The Invasion: Again?
by SmittenxKitten
Summary: You think the Ellimist won his chess game with Crayak through the win of Earth? Wrong. Rachel was the vital chess piece in the Ellimist's game, and she died. But there was a loophole in the terms, one which allowed him to make the most minimal change..
1. Tiny adjustment

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten

Prologue and Chapter One

((Author's Note: Gee, don't you hate these stupid things? Damned disclaimers. Anyway, for this ENTIRE STORY so I don't have to put these idiotic things on any more chapters, I do not own any ideas that originated from K.A. Applegate's series, Animorphs. That includes Yeerks, Andalites, any other aliens she came up with, morphing power, ideas revolving around that, yada yada yada. I do, however, own the claims to my original charries. So there! P Everyone else.. well, they're K.A.'s, and I better not be sued. . Btw, review it! I love reviews! Also-These characters are aruond the age of FIFTEEN, not the thirteen K.A. had originally intended. So sue me, artistic liscence!))

I showed her. My life, my mistakes, my triumphs, everything that had led up to what I have become. She demanded to know, _needed_ to know if she had made a difference... If she had mattered. That her life wasn't just another casualty in this sick, twisted war.

"Yes," I told her. "You were brave... You were strong," The war for Earth had been won.. but so had Crayak. "You mattered." Oh, and she had! She'd been the key piece all along, though Jake had done a wonderful job of distracting Crayak's attention. He'd done his role as leader, had played his part in attracting Crayak's animosity. Yet despite all my intricately deceitful tactics, Rachel had still managed to get herself killed. The evil menace had won the hidden chess game I alone knew we played. For beneath the war, beneath the victory of these courageous youths who called themselves Animorphs, was this human girl's loss. Had she lived, the universe would have had an entire new beacon of light. I could imagine it now, the life that would spring from her, that warriar spirit bringing hope to so many races, allowing others to live. Far off in the threads of time, hundreds of different races faded out of existance, the uncertain knots this beautiful, spirited girl would weave no longer given even the opportunity to support the many others... to save those thousands of lives.

I'd played with her life until it broke. Now all that was left was a mess of broken dreams and heartaches.

"Yeah. Okay, then. Okay..."

A small strand in space time faded, leaving only the blazing, fiery trail that told of her magnificent history... There was nothing I, despite the great powers I possessed as Ellimist, could do within the rules of the game. The final, critical game had been played, and I had lost...

Or had I? The braids of time.. could they be rewoven? There was nothing in the rules about loosening a knot, allowing another individual to make an appearance... The only term that could possibly cover that was the fact that I wasn't allowed to turn the wheel of time back. _I wonder_.. Would Crayak notice? Does he know about time's delicate weave?

The first knot slipped away as the threads slowly folded back into themselves. I had found a loophole. The tiniest adjustment would make all the difference...

CHAPTER ONE

It all started with a stupid book. Can you believe that? I got dragged into this stupid war all because of one lousy "Home Veterinarian's Cat Care" book. Dragged into this battle for no reason other than dumb luck and a dumb book.

By the way, I'm Sari. That will have to do for now, since I'm not too fond of slugs. Especially the ones that are shoved into your brain and control your body. That sounds so "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", doesn't it? Guess what! It's real, and it's worse. See, instead of dying after they crawl into your head, you begin living death. That probably doesn't make much sense to you right now, unless you've been taken. But it will.

The Yeerks are a parasetic species. They worm their way inside your head, wrap their grotesque, disgusting slug bodies around your brain, attach themselves to your nuerons, and control your body. Want to know the worst part? You're still conscious through all of this. But suddenly, you're paralyzed. You can't scream for help; you can't raise your hand to claw at your own head to pull that slimy body from your brain. You know those tiny little things that no one ever notices? The ability to focus your own eyes, concentrate on one certain sound? Or even to pull your own memories from your own brain?

You'd appreciate that once you become a controller.. That's what we call people who've been infested by yeerks. Prisoners trapped inside the glass cage of their own minds. Unable to move, unable to scream a plea for help. Unable to warn loved ones and all the while getting the front row seat as the parasites take your family, one by one... Well, now you know what I mean by living death.

But at the time I was reading the stupid book that dragged me into this whole mess, I didn't have any inkling of the existance of aliens. As far as I knew, we were alone in the universe. Wouldn't it just be so much simpler that way? Too bad life doesn't work out so nicely. I was just worried about my cat, and not pondering over whether or not some Andalite Prince was going to waltz into my life and leave a devastation that we, my friends and I, alone have to face. My dad doesn't exactly like paying for veterinary care, so I often had to figure everything out myself. Naturally I didn't have the first clue about how to take a cat's temperature. Ick. Nor did I want to figure out any more. You stick the thermometer _where_?

The five minute bell rang, and I slid the thick book under my desk. Other students were beginning to fill the classroom now, and it was probably a good idea not to look like the biggest "new kid nerd" that ever walked the face of the Earth... Did I even mention I'm new here? Though as I glanced up, it appeared I'd already labeled myself as just that. Yeah, I was definitely doing an excellent job of failing at my attempt of looking 'cool'. Not that I cared.. or so I told myself.

I sank back in my desk and noticed this short black girl eyeing me with sympathic interest. Silently, I groaned. I could only hope it wasn't pity. _Oh jeez, anything but pity! _No one but her was really taking an interest in the tired-looking new girl, and most of them appeared to be druggies or idiots that I didn't particularly want to get to know. Especially the ones who were shouting obnoxiously. Somehow, I didn't think they'd appreciate me informing them that no matter how loud they got, it wouldn't make up for their intelligence, or lack thereof. So, wisely, I remained quiet.

"Did you just switch into this class?" The girl who had smiled at me was talking to me now. A rude, snappy remark was on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back. _No, I was just in your blind spot for the whole year. _She was only being nice. I guess I get a little angry when I can't control my environment.

"Yeah. I just moved here." I managed to flash my teeth back at her, thought it probably appeared more like a grimace than a smile. I hadn't liked leaving all my friends behind. Especially since I'd recently found some I felt could trust.

"Not many people read veterinary books for fun," She nodded knowingly, appearing to approve of my choice. So she didn't think I was a loser? "I'm Cassie."

"I'm Sari. My cat, Trini, is sick, and my dad won't take her to the vet. He doesn't want to pay for her." Not that she needed an explanation or anything..

"Maybe me and my dad could take a look," At my skeptical look, she rushed on. "We have a barn where we take care of injured wildlife, but I'm sure my dad wouldn't mind looking at your cat."

"Really?" I felt my heart lighten a little. Well, maybe there was some good in coming out here.. There'd definitely been something wrong with my poor cat ever since she'd escaped into the outdoors for a few days. She'd probably be happy to get out of her quarantine.. I didn't want her infecting my other cat, after all. "I don't have enough money for the vet, but I do have a little, so I could-"

"No, don't worry about it," Cassie cut me off. "We could look at your cat today, even. That is, if you don't mind being dragged through the mall with me and my friend, Rachel." She said, pleading with me silently to go, as if the mall was the worst hell she could imagine. I laughed.

"Alright, sounds fun." I managed a geniune smile that time. I had been really worried about Trini, my precious kitty. Things were looking up, I guess. "Is it alright if I hang out with you at lunch?" I asked, to which she shook her head.

"I promised a friend I'd help them with their lab project. Meet me after school at the bike racks, okay?" I nodded, and the bell rang. Maybe this first day wouldn't be so bad, after all. Or maybe she really didn't want me to tag along. I hate hidden agendas. Lately, it seemed nearly everyone had more than one face.

It was now 7:30, and I was in the food court clutching an oversized bag filled with smaller bags from various stores which I'd vehemently sworn to never set foot in. Cassie's friend Rachel could be pursuasive... _very_ pursuasive. I'd spent the money I'd originally planned to pay Cassie for her assistance with my cat on clothes. As it turned out, Rachel was a very aggressive, very passionate shopper. She'd probably make a good sales person. Which is why I now had several items from Abercrombie and Fitch and the Gap. Both stores nauseate me... either that, or the people who shop there. No reflection on Rachel, though, she was actually a decent person, despite her acute addiction to shopping.

In the few short hours we'd spent dragging behind the tall, blonde goddess, she'd filled my head with so much fashion and weird calculations about her "art" that it had made me dizzy. It seemed kind of shallow, but now that we were just sitting and talking, much more depth was revealed in her character. Generally, there were few people I liked, and many people I tolerated. I definitely liked Rachel and Cassie.

"It's him! Don't look at him!" Cassie's gasp broke me from my reverie.

"Why shouldn't I look at my cousin?" Rachel asked. She was trying to hide a grin.

"Well, you can look, just don't _LOOK_." Cassie said, blushing ever so slightly.

"Wait, who are we talking about now?" I asked in confusion. Rachel totally ignored me, like I had asked empy space. I shot a glare hotly at her.

"What, don't look at him in a way that could somehow, in some way convey to him that you want him? That your lips beg to rub against his, that you want to be held in his manly man arms-"

"Yes, Rachel. That's exactly what I mean." She said, cutting her friend off in a hissed whisper through clenched teeth. I found this whole bit to be very entertaining.

"Oooh, Cassie has a crush!" I said with a laugh. "Would you mind showing me where this god among princes is..?'' Halfway through what I was saying, I realized Cassie's face had turned a vivid hue of crimson, which was actually quite becoming against her dark skin. Rachel was trying hard not to snort with laughter as her eyes focused right behind me.

"Hi, Jake." Rachel's voice cracked on the verge of insane laughter. Cassie looked like she wanted to melt into her seat and die, but I probably would have kicked the bucket first. I felt so stupid.

"Oh. Hi." I managed, lamely. Two other guys were with him. One was kind of short, just an inch taller than Cassie, but he made up for that by being cute. Yeah, he was definitely cute. Long brown hair, brown eyes, nice olive skin. And he was doing a great job of laughing his ass off. The guy behind him was standing a little off from him, like he didn't belong. He seemed almost as awkward as I felt. Very nervous and tense. He was the type who always looked over his shoulder.

"Cassie, could you possibly be admitting your feelings for me at last? I'm touched!" That would be the short, cute one. that Jake kid shoved the Fabio-wannabe behind him and smiled this slow smile at Cassie. There was definitely a sparkle of emotion between them.

"You guys going home?" Jake asked. "You shouldn't go through the construction site by yourselves. I mean, being girls and all."

Rachel put on this sickeningly sweet smile and moved foreward suggestively, eyelashes fluttering, though there was something dangerous flashing behind her sparkling blue eyes.

"Are you going to come and protect us, you big, strong m-a-a-a-n? You think that we're helpless just because-"

Cassie cut in with perfect timing. "I'd appreciate it if they did walk with us, Rachel. I know _you're_ not afraid of anything, but I guess I am." That shut Rachel up pretty fast.

"And I'll get lost without you guys," I added helpfully. "What's this about a construction site? I don't exactly know the town yet." The short one who's name I still didn't know merely shrugged.

"Oh, you know, it's just the place where nightmares are born. Ax murderers, people with chainsaws, homeless guys with a smell so bad that it'll make you wake up screaming for weeks." How ironic he should mention the construction site as a place that nightmares were born. So we headed off to the construction site, AKA the biggest mistake of our lives.


	2. Dumb heels & a box

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten

Chapter Two

((A.N.-This chapter is a lot like the book, but I SWEAR the next parts will be different. Basically, I'm starting off from just a minor thing, so as this story progresses, the change will grow more dramatic through the passage of time. So, bear with me! Please read and review, and tell me where I can improve! Btw, TY for the input, UKHoneyB!))

So we headed off to the construction site, Jake, Marco, Rachel, Cassie, and Tobias. Introductions had been short, and the two pairs of best friends seemed to be off in their own worlds. I ended up hanging back a little with Tobias. I'd never been the new kid before, so I was really uncomfortable.

As we walked, I tuned out of the conversation. The construction site facinated me; it seemed like a place I would enjoy exploring later. Rotted out, partially constructed buildings rose from the ground like eerie monsters. Twisted metal and debris lay everywhere in our path. Not to mention the occasional pit filled with murky, black water that gleamed in the moon's reflection. It was utterly creepy, and at the same time, insanely cool.

I tripped over a crumbling cinderblock and fell hard, cutting my hand on a jagged piece of metal. Ugh. I really needed to watch where I was going, especially in my dangerously high heels. Me, I was some sort of weird mixture of caring and indifference when it came to clothes. Half the time I was wearing tight, fitted jeans and a lowcut shirt with my hair all crimped and perfect makeup. The other half? I wore baggy teeshirts, torn, stained pants, and my brunette tresses were a tangled mess held back(sort of) in a knot by a pencil. Since today had been my first day, naturally, I looked good. But it was really hard to walk in this jungle of metal in three inch heels.

I wasn't one of those people all hung up on looks all the time. I was too lazy to wake up at 5:30 every morning to do my hair or whatever. Personally, I figure that people who obsess over their appearance have some serious esteem issues. I didn't think I needed makeup, anyway. I looked nothing like Rachel, who was a goddess extroadinaire, but I was more into the 'natural' look. Or so I told myself.

Anyway, there we were, the six of us, trudging along and hoping that no murderers would take a fancy to a group of mismatched kids.

"It's a nice night." Tobias said. I glanced up at him. That was the first time he'd spoken to me directly.

"No kidding." I laughed in that slightly high pitched, annoying way I do when I'm uncomfortable.

My gaze was fixed on the ground, and Tobias was staring at the sky. Suddenly, he stopped, dead in his tracks.

"Look," He said. It was at that moment that my heels decided to disagree with me. Again, I tumbled to the ground, sprawling out with a painful yelp. Naturally, the others turned to help me up, being good people and all. Yeah, I definitely liked them. I grabbed the bag that I was carrying from the mall. Mud was dripping from it.

"Guys, look!" Tobias's voice held a serious tone of urgency. So, despite having to untangle my limbs, I looked up at the sky. And froze. For there, only a few hundred feet above us was... I have no idea. It was like a space ship, but nothing like those dumb UFO sightings people claim to have seen. This was more practical. It looked normal enough, until you noticed the pointed tail. Like one of those weird lazer beams or something. It was definitely a weapon.

"..It's stopping." Rachel said. Her luxurious long hair was standing straight out. In any other circumstance, I probably would have laughed. I wasn't sure I believed my own eyes, but she was right. Whatever this thing was, it was definitely slowing down. Decending right in front of us.

"Maybe we should get a camera. Take pictures. We could make a lot of money for real pictures of UFO's." Marco's eyes were huge as he stared at the thing.

"Or maybe the aliens are already here and we're just their next victims for probing." There was my snappish side. I was scared. Terrified, actually, but even that doesn't describe the fear that pumped adrenaline through every fiber of my being.

"Only on South Park." Marco said. I can't believe we even had the nerve to make that whole uptight exchange. For as we spoke, the spaceship landed, right before our very eyes. The ship's hum quieted, and sort of faded to a low murmer. It was obvious that it was damaged from the twisted, mutated metal around the sides of it.

"Maybe we should try to talk to it," Rachel suggested. "You know, let it know that we won't hurt them or anything..?"

"Did it ever occur to anyone that whatever's in there might NOT be friendly? Like the Borg or something?" Where was I coming up with this stuff? I hardly ever watched TV. But, despite my warnings, Tobias had taken a step foreward, palms up, to show that he didn't have any weapons or anything. _Stupid_, I thought. _Just invite it to come and shove metal rods up our unmentionable parts._

"Hello. You can come out. We won't hurt you." _More like can't. _See, the thing, it, whatever the heck it was had a nice big spaceship that probably had lasers equipped or something on it. Our weapons consisted of flimsy paper bags and any mud we might be able to find squishing between our toes. We could easilly be Purina alien chow.

"Do you think they speak English?" Jake murmered, completely mesmerized and terrified, just like the rest of us. Yet, at the same time, there was humor in his voice. Tobias ignored him.

"Please, we won't hurt you." He repeated.

(I know.) ...I was losing it. I was definitely, finally losing it. How can you hear something that doesn't have a sound?

"Guys..?" Rachel whispered, sounding disbelieving, and at the same time, like this was the coolest thing she'd ever seen. Was she nuts? We all nodded, though, because yes, we'd all heard it, and yes, we'd probably all fallen off the deep end. Though generally people don't all go crazy at the same time or share hallucinations.

Hmm. I'd have to think about mass-psychotics later.

"Can you come out?" It was weird. Tobias didn't seem to be the leader type, but he was totally taking the initiative. Like he'd delt with aliens before. Haha. Right.

(Yes. Do not be frightened.) There was some exchange between the others, but I wasn't paying any attention. I was busy taking my heels off in case we DID have cause to be frightened. I could brandish a mean stiletto. But.. the 'voice', the soundless words he uttered, didn't make me feel like I was threatened. Still... just a precaution. I stuffed one of my shoes into the bag, brandishing the other one awkwardly.

The entire scene was almost comically dramatic. It was like every sci-fi movie I've ever seen. There was this big crescent of glowing light, with the... thing.. silloetted against it. He stood tall, strong, totally proud. Despite my terror, I began to feel what the others were feeling: the sense of utter coolness. It was awesome, yet at the same time, I was ready to bolt. Hell, I was already planning an escape route. That's how I am, always preparing for the worst. An optimistic pessimist, if there ever was such a thing. A realist? Hah! Could 'realist' even apply in an impossible situation?

The alien took a dainty step from the ship before he swayed as if he was intoxicated, and then staggered towards us. I took an involuntary step backwards as he fell to his knees in the place I had just seconds before been occupying. Burn marks covered his right side. He was obviously injured.. but I couldn't tell how bad. The thing looked like a centaur. You know, one of those half horse, half human things? He had a torso and head like a human, minus the mouth and add a pair of stalks.. with EYES on the end! His ears were large, pointed at the top, like an elf's, only bigger. His torso gave way to a body of a horse, with hooves and all. But, even in the dim light, I could tell he was blue. A blue centaur. Weird. It was only when he struggled back to his feet that I noticed the deadly tail. It was a great, curved scythe, obviously a DANGEROUS weapon. Only with effort did he hold it arched and high with forced pride, weak as he was.

Tobias tried to help him stand, but his strength was failing. Cassie was distressed over his burn.

(I am dying.)

"We can bandage that! Jake, tear up your shirt, we'll make bandages!"

(No. The would is fatal.)

"We can't just let you die! You're the first alien to come to Earth!" Cassie said, though she probably had identified him as an animal rather than a sentient species. As if this thing had similar organs to horses. Hah!

(I am not the first. There are many, many others..) He paused, a pained look curving those impossibly emerald eyes. (But they are here to destroy you.)

Oh, joy. This was getting happier and happier, wasn't it? I stared in silence, tears beginning to prick my eyes. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be home, typing away in a chatroom on the internet. Or maybe playing a video game back home with the boyfriend I left behind, or Risk with my brother's room mates. Yet at the same time, I DID want to be here. I wanted to help this dying alien. He made me feel.. comforted.

Remember the slugs I told you about? The yeerks? He told us about the most evil race in the galaxy. He told us about how they'd enslaved race after race.. the Taxxons, the Hork Bajir.. He also told me about the Andalites, who fought this threat.

"Why are you telling us this? What are we supposed to do?! What can ANYONE do..?" I was practically crying. Mad and despairing all at once. Who knew if this threat he was talking about was true? Would an alien have some incentive to lie to a group of rattled teenagers?

I certainly hoped he did. Though it was impossible to disbelieve him, unfortunately.

(There is no time. Perhaps... Go into my ship. You will see a small blue box, very plain. Bring it to me! Quickly! The yeerks will be upon us soon.)

We all looked at each other. I didn't really know who to turn to, seeing as I knew barely anything about this peculiar little group. So I just looked at Jake, like the others were doing. He didn't look too happy about it, but at least it wasn't me. Into the ship he went, and out he came with the box. The entire scene progressed quickly, in a sort of haze. It's hard to recall.. Terror does that too you.. makes you forget things. He explained about the power to morph.. to absorb their DNA, become any creature we could touch. Suddenly, all four of his eyes were focused on the sky. Red lights that were NOT planes were closing in.

(The yeerks! You must decide now! They will be upon us soon!) Well, obviously, the vote was unanimous. Personally, I didn't quite believe I'd actually be able to 'morph' as he called it, but the idea was tempting. Whatever, though, this alein obviously was in the know where I wasn't...

I was scared, so scared I could hear my teeth chattering. The urgency was thick in the air, however. We pressed our hands to the box. It was a nice tingle that ran up my arm, but it was followed by a wave of the Andalite's terror.

(Visser Three! He comes! You must run, save yourselves, warn your people!)

"We can't just leave you!"

(You must. Visser Three is the most deadly of your enemy. He comes!) At our hesitation the Andalite snapped at us. (RUN!) The Andalite's terror was growing. You know, seeing as Andalites were apparently our only hope in the galaxy, I didn't want to think about that fear in his 'voice'.

"How are we supposed to fight?!" Rachel demanded angrilly, covering up for her own shaking knees.

(You must find a way! _RUN_!)

"He's right, run!" Jake cried. All but Tobias and I ran. For some reason or another, I'd ended up holding onto the box. Instinct took over and I shoved it into one of my bags, probably to free up my hands or something.

Stumbling over the debris, cursing as sharp metal pierced my calloused feet, I leapt over the wall where the other's hid, followed shortly by Tobias. Wrapping my bag up so it wouldn't rustle, I peaked over the wall. The scene that followed will be burned into my nightmares for the rest of my life.

I watched numbly, the cold shaking my slender frame. Or maybe it was terror. The 'taxxons', the 'Hork-bajir', whatever they were.. and then.. Visser 3.. they all blurred into my mind in a jumble of events that I didn't want to think about. And then the freak-Visser decided to morph.

It was too much... too much. Andalite screams and my sobs mingled as both alien and I snapped. I bolted.


	3. Damn, not a dream

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten

Chapter Three

I have no recollection of how I made it home that night, but I did. Hell, I didn't even know my way around town, yet somehow, in some unexplainable way, I managed to find my house. It was only around 9:00, my homework wasn't done, and I didn't know how my cat was, but I didn't care. It wasn't getting done tonight. I passed out on my bed, and heard the scream of the dying Andalite over and over..

My alarm went off at 6:30 the next morning. I'd forgotten to turn it off. With a groan, I slammed my hand down on the snooze button. I immediately wished I hadn't. My hand began bleeding anew, the scab having been torn a bit by the violent action. It wasn't that I actually wanted to fall back into the nightmares, it was more that the reality of everything was so much worse. I couldn't pretend the events of yesterday away. I couldn't say it had all been a dream. Because dreams don't leave torn clothes and lacerated feet behind. I gingerly looked at my dirt-caked feet. I hadn't even bothered to wash them.. oh, man. I really hoped this wouldn't be really bad later.

I'd had my tetanis shot recently.. right? Hopefully. Though I wasn't sure how I was going to explain all this to my dad.

Limping to my bathroom, I turned on the water for a bath. There was no way I was going to stand long enough for a shower. So there I was, scrubbing as if trying to rid myself of yesterday's events. But they weren't going away, instead, the memories branded onto my brain kept refreshing, reminding me of the new evil that I hadn't even realized existed. How could ANYTHING that was sentient be like that?

I bit back a laugh. Human history isn't exactly the epitome of kindness.

After my bath, I lounged around on the computer for a bit. Needing to do something normal. Something that didn't threaten humanity's whole existance. Or maybe it did, after all, the internet was a scary place. But it just felt comforting to me. Here, I could hide behind the anonymous mask and be whatever I felt like being. I could just hang out in a teen chatroom, and make fun of the numerous 5'6, blonde, perfect cheerleaders that frequented the rooms.

I'd been doing for a few hours, wondering why the hell so many preppy cheersquad members were online so early when the phone rang. I knew it had to be one of the five who'd been with me yesterday. With a sigh and a moment's hesitation, I picked up the phone. I'd hoped it'd be a few more hours before I really had to face the reality of the situation, but there was no use in putting it off. I dragged the receiver reluctantly to my face.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sari, it's Cassie." She sounded relieved. "We were worried when we couldn't get ahold of you last night. Anyway.. you're okay right?"

"Couldn't be better." Sarcasm bit my voice as I held the phone to my shoulder, typing to a few friends as I spoke with her.

"You should come over soon. I... we... have something to show you. Oh, and my dad looked at Trini. He gave her some meds and she'll be fine.. When can you come?" Urgency vibrated through her voice. I could hear excited chatter in the background. With a suppressed sigh, I logged off AOL.

"I'll be there in thirty."

I hung up the phone, only to have it ring again twenty seconds later. With a frustrated sigh, I picked it up and began to speak.

"Look, Cassie, I said I can't be there until-"

"Hi, Sari." It was Josh. I don't know how it was possible for my mood to be any darker, but it felt as though night had decended and the stars had all died and the moon had cracked in half. I was not happy to be hearing from him.

"Why are you calling?"

"Well, I heard you moved down here. I wanted to see you." He wanted to see me? Why? I hadn't been exactly nice about ending our long distance relationship. Of course, he hadn't exactly been nice about cheating on me or getting into hard drugs.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Look, things are different now. I'm not into that same stuff as I was before." His voice held a tone of pleading, the one that used to make me believe any of his silver-tongued lies. I wanted to believe him.. but I didn't.

"I've heard that one before," I said absently as I started to pull on clothes. Suddenly, getting to Cassie's sooner rather than later seemed like a good idea.

"No, really. I joined this club..the Sharing. I'm clean now, because of them." Well, that was certainly different.

"The Sharing?" Doubt colored my voice.

"Yeah. Look, I want to show you. It's a really great organization. I'm back with my family again and doing productive things. I'm going to school, Sari." That stopped me short. But why now? Ugh. This was annoyingly inconveniant and frustrating. "Anyway, there's a meeting tonight. I'd like you to come, check it out." He continued. "You could ask your dad to come."

I laughed. Right. My dad, go to a group meeting? Unlikely. He was too wrapped up in his appraisal job and getting building permits for the state. Who knew that land marketing could be so interesting?

"Whatever. I'll ask, but I doubt it." I hung up without bothering with further response. The nerve of some people. With a sigh, I pulled on one of my baggy shirts. Today was definitely not one of my pretty-appearance days.

As promised, thirty minutes later, I arrived at Cassie's farm. The others were already there when I hopped off my bike, walking gingerly on the torn soles of my feet. I was also wearing bunny slippers. No way was I riding my bike in normal shoes. The others all looked either excited or rattled. Was that good or bad?

"Hey guys," I said, giving Cassie a 'what's going on?' look. She shrugged a little and glanced towards Jake. The others did the same, too. He was kicked back against the fence that borders the meadows next to the farm. He looked uncomfortable.

"Umm.. Look, remember what the Andalite said about being able to change into animals?" Oh.. yeah, I remembered that. I nodded, wondering if I should mention the blue box that I'd so hastilly snatched, but Jake continued before I could speak. "Tobias turned into his cat, I've turned into Homer, my dog, and an hour ago, Cassie was a horse."

Something cracked in me. I snorted, then stifled giggles that quickly turned into full-blown laughter. But at the repremanding glares of the others, it quickly died. This was the most absurd thing I'd ever heard.

"We don't know if we should actually go after this, being kids and all. But controllers could be anyone. We can't talk to ANYONE about this. Anyone could be a controller. That cop... Tom..." He shot an angry look at Marco.

"Wait, what's this about a cop? I missed something." This was really weird. Here I was, suddenly thrust in the middle of some alien war and discussing it with someone who I'd just met 12 hours ago. I'd met them all only yesterday, and now we couldn't trust anyone but each other? That didn't make sense to me. I never trusted anyone, especially not strangers. And especially not people who seemed to know way more about this thing than I did.

"Well.. Cassie was..." He searched for a word. "Demorphing, you know, becoming human again, and this cop pulled up. Asking about kids setting off fireworks in the construction site last night. He almost saw her. He had to be a controller. And..." Jake's voice trailed off before he cleared it. He glared at Marco. "Marco thinks Tom is a controller."

A what? I felt like I was missing something critical.

"You know, Jake, both the cop and Tom were VERY interested in the construction site. That cop guy and Tom both mentioned the Sharing. Both are full members. And suddenly, Tom quit the team-"

"The Sharing? You think that they're controllers just because they're members of the Sharing?" I raised an eyebrow. "My ex called me. He's a member. According to him, he's clean now... used to be on a lot of drugs. I don't know how trustworthy he is, but still."

Marco eyed me suspiciously. "How do you know he isn't one of them?"

"How do we know anyone is one? You're basing your assumptions on nothing," Slightly exasperated, I hopped up onto the fence, giving my poor tortured feet a rest. "Somehow, I doubt that slugs bent on world domination are interested in getting the worst of druggies clean." The others seemed to consider this.

"We could at least check it out," Tobias said, speaking fot the first time.

"Look, we don't even know if we want in on this whole war." Marco pointed out, starting to get defensive. It was then that Tobias began speaking up.

"If we don't, who will? We can't trust the police, obviously. Or anyone else. ANYONE could be one of them. We tell the wrong person, boom, we're dead." Tobias did have a point. We couldn't trust anyone else. "We have to fight."

"If we _fight_, we could end up dead." Marco said flatly.

"If we don't, our parents, our friends, everyone could end up being a slave to a yeerk!" Rachel burst out, eyes flashing dangerously.

I didn't know nearly as much as the others since I'd missed out on most of the morning, but I did understood that much. "If we don't destroy them, they destroy us. That's how it is, isn't it."

"We don't have a choice," Cassie whispered softly. The situation was sinking in.

Marco began to object again, pushing my over the edge. Having partially grasped the situation, I was suddenly furious. "Do you want that happening, Marco?! To your dad? You want your mom fighting something inside her own head that she has no hope of ever getting free? Is that what you freaking want?!"

Suddenly, Jake and Rachel glared at me with mirrored expressions of anger. Cassie looked sad. What did I say?

"I don't have to worry about my mom." Marco's voice cracked. Apparently, I'd struck a chord deep inside of him. He looked away from me, anger flashing across his face and a flickering sorrow he was struggling hard to conceal. Guilt washed over me. What had I said that had caused that reaction? Was his mom living somewhere else or something? No one said anything for a long time. We all just stared at the grass.

"Why don't we at least just check out the meeting?" Cassie said, breaking the silence. "It's just a meeting, right? We don't have really anything besides what we suspect. It could very well just be harmless." I hoped it was harmless. It was some stupid club, just like boy scouts. Nothing else.


	4. Reality Bites

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten

Chapter Four

I was helping clean my cat's cage in Cassie's barn. Hey, it was the least I could do in exchange for her services. The meeting had broken up quickly... I felt there was more that should have been said, but the others couldn't look me in the eye. What had I said? Cassie was sympathetic, yet at the same time, it felt as though she had withdrawn from me.

"..Trini is going to be fine. She's just pregnant," Cassie said with a brief smile, still not very chatty. She glanced at me, then at my cat. "You really should get her spayed or make sure she doesn't get outside. There are too many unwanted-"

"Cassie, I'm not stupid. What did I say that pissed everyone off?" That question had been bothering me ever since the 'meeting' earlier.

"...You should ask Marco. I'm not the one to tell you." She scratched behind Trini's ears. The poor thing. She looked absolutely terrified, ears back, her orange and white fur standing on end. She must be so scared. I stroked her fur, and she relaxed about a single hair.

"Yeah.. alright, fine. I'll ask Marco." It made me mad that she wouldn't tell me, but whatever. At I could apologize to him first, and make a complete fool of myself since I wouldn't have any idea of what I was apologizing for. I hate not being able to plan out what I'm going to say. It always comes out wrong; the words become a tangled mess before I even utter one peep.

The silence stretched on for awhile as we worked. Trini's cage was cleaned, but that left the other twenty or so to sanitate. The whole barn reeked of animals, but it was actually soothing. Not manure, but the actual creatures themselves. They stared at us with glittering eyes, fearful of what we represented. I didn't blame them. Most people are scum, especially to animals.

"...Did you really turn into a horse?" The question felt silly upon my tongue, but it broke the awkward silence. Turn into horses? Dogs? Cats...? I glanced at Trini, then immediatly put the idea to rest. Right. Like I could turn into a cat. Cassie turned suddenly, her eyes glowing, a complete U-Turn from her previous attitude.

"Yes! They're so powerful! You just run and run and it's like you never get tired. But the whole morphing process is weird. Scary, really." I stopped cleaning the cages to stare at her with an expression of skeptism across my face. The whole thing sounded so far-fetched that I laughed aloud.

"You know, this is really getting strange. You sure we're not bouncing around in a rubber room? I'm pretty sure I'm not Elvis, but.." We could very well be in the loony bin. I was almost convinced. Almost.

"Here, let me show you." Cassie stepped back from me, removing her nasty, crusty rubber gloves as she did so. Her brown eyes were all lit up, really excited. I cut her a break because, hey, if I thought I could turn into a horse, I'd act the same way. "Okay, this is going to be really weird.."

I shut the cage we had been working on and leaned back against it. My arms folded across my chest, I waited for something to happen. I can't say that I actually believed she could turn into animals. As time progressed, my disbelief increased. It was like some bizarre dream come to life. Obviously I was the only pseudo-sane person around.

Suddenly, her mouth and nose suddenly shot out of her face. It was like a tumor had erupted under her skin, shoving it out in a ball of flesh, twisting and mutating grotesquely. I didn't even realize I was screaming until she put one hardening-into-hoof hand against my mouth. As if that wasn't weird enough, her eyes started melting down the sides of her face, getting larger and softer. The eyes of a horse.

"Mmph!" I shoved her regular human arm away from my mouth. An arm that had a hoof attatched at the end of it. What had been horror a few seconds before had now turned into a sense of utter coolness. I stepped closer, looking at her like she was some sort of science experiment. Which she pretty much was, considering it was new technology.

"Doesn't that hurt?" I extended my hand to touch her face. She was turning into a horse, the clothes she was wearing stretching to accomodate her bulk. But she had all human skin and no fur. Cassie shook her head, something very weird to see. Half-horse, half-human freak shaking her head 'no'. This was too much. The other creatures in the barn seemed to agree with me. They started shifting in their cages, restlessly eyeing the thing Cassie was becoming. Especially my cat. She was a ball of fluff, downright terrified.

"Cassie? Is everything okay?"

I whirled around as tall man approached the barn. Oh, shit! I shoved Cassie back into a nearby stall, concealing her from view as she hurriedly reversed her morph. She was more horse than human, but it would be difficult to explain two identical horses and Cassie's absence. Tripping over myself, I practically ran into her dad as he reached the barn.

"Is everything okay? I heard a scream." He glanced around me, trying to get a glimpse of his daughter. I moved to block his view. He shifted again, trying to glance over my shoulder, but I kept getting in the way. _Gee_, I thought. _This isn't just a wee bit suspicious, is it? _

"Oh. Hi. You must be Cassie's dad. I'm Sari, you know, the girl who's cat you looked at? Yeah, I came to see if she was okay, and she is, and I just wanted to thank you for taking care of her and stuff." I stuck out my hand, desperately attempting to keep him at bay. He looked at me strangely, like I might be partially nuts.

Which I very well could be, considering I just watched a girl contort and mutate into a horse.

Her dad took my hand and shook it, despite my wide eyes, too happy smile, and maneur-smelling hands.

"Nice to meet you. What's going on?" He gave his 'authorative-adult' look, crossed his arms, and began tapping his foot impatiently as I stumbled over what I should tell him.

"Uh, yeah, everything's fine!" At his worried look, I continued. "Um, there was a spider. Yeah, I'm, um... deathly afraid of spiders! Right, that's it. Cassie killed it though, so I'm okay now. Yeah." _No, I couldn't **possibly** be a moron_, I thought sarcastically. He looked at me like I was on drugs or something. Which is how I was probably acting, twitching and fidgeting in a really uncomfortable manner.

"We're fine, Dad." Cassie stepped out from the stall. Her pants were slightly torn, and VERY stretched. Weird, they actually looked like they fit , despite her jeans still being four inches too short. They were definitely tons looser. "Really. We're okay. Sari is just an arachnophobiac." She smiled tensely. We had come way too close to getting caught. For Cassie, that was the second time today.

"Well, if everything is okay.."

"Yeah.. Um, I have to get going. Really. I have a, um, date tonight. So I should go. Yeah." The whole experience had really shaken me up. My body felt numb as I stumbled back to my bike, my bunny slippers now filthy with maneur and mud. I didn't want to think about what could have happened had Cassie been discovered like that. Anyone could have a slug controlling them. This whole experience just reminded me of that danger. "Cassie, can you keep my cat overnight just for one more time, to make sure she's okay?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Thanks! See you later!" I didn't want to hear what Cassie had to say. My heart was pounding oddly in my chest, and I was shaking horribly. There was no longer any question as to whether or not I had gone over the edge. I definitely, irrevocably had.

The morphing had terrified the hell out of me, but at the same time, it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. More than anything, I wanted to try it, but there wasn't time for that now. I had to get ready to go to that stupid Sharing, and face Josh. This day totally sucked.

I hopped on my bike and rode out of there like the hounds of Hell were nipping at my heels.

The drive to the meeting was not a fun one for me. Memories of the previous night assaulted me as darkness swallowed the land, giving me an odd feeling of foreboding. Not only did I have to deal with reality shoving its foot up my ass, but I also had to see Josh again and deal with Marco's sullen glares directed my way. This was just proving to be an absolute GEM of an evening.

It was supposed to be one of those fun beach things. Weiners, marshmallows, and night volleyball. I loved the beach, and I loved the night, but the black sky was like an oppressive blanket. I felt suffocated. The car rolled to a stop, and I hesitantly stepped out of the car with a silent prayer that I wouldn't end up being chased by bladed demons from hell again or by the cruel lies that my ex liked to feed me.

As we approached the beach, a familiar figure approached at a jog. Josh. He wasn't the tallest guy around, but he was still taller than Marco. He had short, cropped hair and ridiculously big lips that seemed almost disproportionate to his forhead, but his eyes were what captured attention. He had gorgeous blue eyes. While once they appeared soft and humurous, they now glinted like steel. It was obvious to me that he'd changed, and quite a bit at that.

"Hey," He was slightly out of breath. He held his arms out to me for a hug, and I just stared at his invited embrace. Right.

"Hi," I said warily. "You know I'm not a touchy person." Though Josh looked disappointed, he led Marco and I to the festivity.

The others were already here. Jake and Tom, I presumed, since he looked like an older version of Jake, were playing volleyball against Rachel and Cassie. I walked in that direction, and naturally, Josh followed.

"Hey guys!" I stopped short of the net. Apparently, I'd startled Cassie. She jerked just as the ball hit her outstretched arms and knocked it towards Rachel, who lunged for it and face planted in the sand. It was a very un-Rachel like thing to do. She gave me a dirty look as she daintilly regained her footing. She literally brushed herself twice and it was like all the sand that had gotten into her outfit had fallen back to the ground. Not a single hair was out of place. Jeez, it was like some unnatural ability or something. We all laughed, but Jake was actually snorting with it. The blonde goddess swept under the net and quite suddenly threw the ball into his stomach. She was stronger than she looked, obviously, since Jake crumpled, gasping, to the ground, his wind knocked out of him.

"Jake, my man, owned by a _chick_! Ouch!" Marco strolled towards them. He was carrying a stick with a hot dog speared onto it. Leave it to Marco to have already found the nearest food source.

"Marco, are you renting out that empty space in your head? It could be profitable." Rachel turned around and moved threateningly towards Marco.

"You wound me with your pointed barbs, Rachel!" He clutched at his heart with a pained expression on his face and stumbled backwards, feinting the 'attack' Rachel was about to launch on him. She rolled her eyes, but decided he wasn't worthy prey.

"Remember, never miss a good chance to shut up. Now would be great." Rachel said venemously.

I sighed in mild relief. Whatever unpleasantness the morning had brought seemed to have been forgotten, but everyone by Marco. He still couldn't look me in the eye, but I didn't know if I could blame him. I was beginning to feel like I'd hurt something deep inside of him.

"Where's Tobias?" I asked. He didn't seem to be around. Cassie glanced up at the sky.

"He's around." Rachel said nonchalantly.

"Hey, Josh. You were almost late for the meeting!" Tom stepped foreward, throwing his hand forward in that guy-handshake that I'd never quite understood. "This is my little brother, Jake, and his friends."

That strange male-ritual continued while Cassie, Rachel, and I exchanged slightly annoyed looks. We never did quite get that male-bonding ritual.

"Yeah, this is my friend, Sarah. I invited her dad, but he didn't feel like coming" Josh said to Tom. I felt a bizarre prickling at the back of my neck. Why were they so interested in my dad?

Josh tried to introduce me to the others, though it was obvious we already knew each other.

"Small world," Tom said. "Guess she couldn't resist the magnetism of my little brother," he winked at Jake. I turned slightly red and shook my head slightly at Cassie, which, in turn, caused her to blush. Strangely, Josh didn't show any reaction. Hm. That was odd.

Tom was smiling broadly, but when he looked at Jake, his face twitched. It was weird, like he was smiling but trying to break out of it... Didn't Marco think he was a controller? I looked closer, but then I realized that he and Josh were looking at me funny.

"Heh, thought I saw a mosquito on your cheek." I smiled innocently. Tom looked at me for a few measured seconds, then turned to my boyfriend.

"We better get going. Mr. Visser would throw a fit if we were late." Josh nodded. I stiffened, trying not to appear like I was terrified out of my mind. Visser. That title... we ALL knew that title. There was no way we could forget it.

I looked at Jake. My expression mirrored his. We both _knew_.

Nobody felt like playing volleyball anymore.

((Thanks for all the reviews, you guys! I'll try not to leave any more gaps in, but this story is definitely directed at people who've already read the series. About events: There are going to be essential events from the main stories, for example, Marco finding out his mom is Visser One, but there are going to be very different missions with very different decisions. As for different creatures, this is ANIMORPHS. I'm not bringing in any species that weren't mentioned in the series. I might, MAYBE, unlikely bring in some barely mentioned creatures, for example, Ongachics, but I'm not making up any new creatures. I feel it's better that way, more 'animorphy'. If you guys have any suggestions or ideas, let me know, I love feedback and hearing from you guys!))


	5. Boy Scouts my ass

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten

Chapter Five

Everything was so very cold. I stared at my ex's retreating figure until he disappeared into the night. The warmth of the bonfire couldn't reach my numbing limbs. A dream, this had to be dream. But that gnawing little worm of horrid certainty was tearing at my frozen heart and soul. How could this be happening? It couldn't just be a mere coincidence, could it?

But the full extent of the situation was hitting me. I was confused and scared and in a situation that couldn't be possible, that SHOULDN'T be possible, or happening, or any of that. This thing was way bigger than I could comprehend.

"Hey. _Hey_! Sari!" Rachel nudged my shoulder. Her lips were pressed into a grim line, and the blue eyes held hints of something... violence.. in them. "Snap out of it!" Even that slight push tested my suddenly weak limbs, but somehow I maintained my balance. I gathered my shattered composure.

Several people were looking in my direction with concern. I shot death-glares their way. They seemed startled, but they didn't worry me. After all, the 'slugged-up' full members were attending the meeting. At least, I hoped so. My mood was black as the darkest hell.

"..I'm going to go see what's going on there." Jake said in a low voice. I glanced up at him and immediatly shook my head. No expression crossed his face, yet I sensed his determination. Something had snapped deep inside him.

"If they saw you-"

"-They wouldn't recognize me." Jake interrupted. He signaled us to start moving deeper into the dunes. I followed sullenly, suddenly finding that my knees weren't jello anymore. Not recognize him? Had he gone over the edge or something? My brain was like cotton. I couldn't think, couldn't feel. If I allowed my emotions to spill over, I'd end up a hysterical mess.

This was all too much. There was NOT an alien invasion. This was just like BOYSCOUTS. Nothing more. Period, the END. We did NOT see an Andalite prince get eaten by an alien from outter space. Jesus, this was too much!

Once we were out of sight and hearing range, Jake turned to the rest of us. He was very authoritave, something I hadn't noticed about him before. Sure, he'd always been one of those guys who automatically commanded your respect, but now there was something different about him. My eyes met his, and I was taken aback. The same dangerous flicker was occurring in Jake's eyes as it had been in Rachel's. Everything was moving too fast.

"Jake, are you _insane?!_" Marco exploded on his best friend. "If Tom recognizes you, serious shit will go down. Homer can't _be_ here. How would you explain it?! You COULDN'T!" Homer? Who was Homer?

"There are lots of dogs who look like Homer. He won't recognize me." Wait, Homer was a dog? I was seriously confused. My brain still refused to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle.

"...I'm confused." I said it angrily, trying to hide my vulnerability. Strong emotions were crashing in my head. I'd never been the most stable of people, but.. damn.

"They're talking about _morphing_." Rachel rolled her eyes at me. Gee, what a swell day this was turning out to be. Now I looked like an idiot to everyone, Marco probably had a serious issue with me from what happened earlier, and we were probably surrounded by slugged-up aliens. I couldn't take this.

"Rachel.." Cassie's voice had a hint of warning for her best friend. She was definitely more perceptive than the blonde goddess. But when she looked at me, and I saw the pity reflected there, I inwardly groaned. Now I was for sure a pity case._ Better and better!_

"I'm going to do it." Jake said. He and Marco had pretty much ignored our exchange. The two friends were still at each other's throats. Cassie and Rachel exchanged worried looks. I hated being on the outside, not knowing enough about these people to really understand what was going on.

(I hate to interrupt your meeting, but I think you guys better get a move on.) I squeaked, looking around frantically for the evil menace who had surely discovered us. But no slug infested Andalite was around; instead, a hawk spilled down from the moonlit sky. Its voice was tense. (Guys from the private meeting just finished setting up this jacuzzi thing. You won't like whats in it.) I was staring at the bird incredulously. It was TALKING! Yet the silent voice sounded familiar. Who...? Or rather what?

"Alright, I'm going in." Jake said. "Thanks for the update, Tobias. We were starting to worry when we didn't hear from you."

"Don't you think you should demorph?" Rachel said. She looked worried and checked her watch. "How long have you been in morph?" Okay. So, the bird was Tobias. I resisted the urge to giggle insanely. The talking bird was letting us know that they had set up a hot tub filled with mind-controlling aliens from outter space! I had the feeling I'd know what size straight jacket I wore by the time the night was over.

(I hate going back to human. These wings, these eyes...)

"You need to be careful, Tobias. Tick tock!" Rachel snapped. She glared at the bird, but there was a hint of concern, too.

(..Yeah, I guess you're right. Besides, night flying isn't as fun. No thermals.) My eyes were glued to the bird. Tobias? No way. But as those doubtful thoughts crossed my mind, the bird of prey began to change. His feathers seemed to melt together, as if they were candle wax melting from the heat of fire. The 'flesh feathers' smoothed out, and turned pink. Suddenly, Tobias was a very ugly, plucked-looking bird.

"Guh-ross!" Marco said. "So KFC really does use genetically altered chickens!" We all giggled nervously, all but Jake and I. The bird shot up from the ground, it's facial features turning to that of a boy.

"Maybe we should turn around?" Cassie suggested. I didn't quite understand why.. until I saw that, unlike Cassie, he couldn't morph clothing. I decided I'd rather not get too familiar with Tobias's equipment, so I obliged Cassie's request. When the boys said it was alright, we turned back towards the group. Tobias was fully clothed. A bag I hadn't even realized anyone had been carrying lay a few feet away.

"We've already wasted too much time. I'm going to morph." Jake began his own change. We decided to leave the site for a few moments and allow Jake to change with his modesty intact. Maybe only guys couldn't morph clothing? I closed my eyes, trying to fight off my tears. Everything was so wrong... Why did this have to happen to me? Why did I have to know about all this crap?

I recalled all the books I'd ever read. The heros and heroines came floating back to me. How I'd longed for something interesting to happen to me, to take hold of my life and make it extraordinary. I had just known I'd accept it and fight for the noble cause, just like those heroines. I'd take my mighty sword and charge straight into battle, pouring my heart into it! Now that it'd actually happened, I wasn't sure I wanted any part of it. _Stupid little girl. _I thought to myself. _Always want what you can't have. Just like everyone else... _But I wasn't like everyone else. Not anymore.

When we returned, Jake had been replaced by a golden retriever. I smiled a little bit, though it wasn't a happy expression. More grim than anything else. Cassie and I walked with him a little ways towards the meeting. She scratched behind his ears.

"Be careful, Jake." She murmured gently. Concern was written all over her face. She bent down and gave him a little hug.

(I will, Cassie.) He trotted off into the surf, acting like your typical stray idiot dog. This was too weird.

Cassie and I were silent for awhile. We should have headed back to where the others were, but for some reason, we just didn't. The soft glow of the bonfire lit up just the barest hints of the ocean from where we were. My gaze strayed out into it's navy depths, my heart throbbing within my breast. Cassie sat down next to me. The silence wasn't very comforting.

I finally had some real time to think, and the facts assaulted me. Our home, precious Earth, was being invaded by aliens. Hah. Aliens. They hadn't even really existed in anything other than movies and people who were conspiracy nuts... They didn't until last night, anyway. How could it be that in less than twenty four hours, someone's entire life could be forever altered? How could fate just let that shit happen?

"..I'm worried." Cassie said. She glanced at her watch, which had probably been about the twentieth time she'd done that.

"I'll bet you are." It took nearly all my will power not to snarl at her.

Cassie looked a little hurt, though I could tell she understood how I felt. I sighed a little, but I was too proud to apologize. Or maybe I was just a jerk. I don't know. Nothing was going right. Without any warning, she stood up. Not even bothering with a 'be right back', she started walking in the direction of the Sharing meeting.

"_Wai_t a second, where are you going? I said wait!" I followed her, jogging a little to catch up with her.

"I'm going to check on Jake. I can't just sit around... can you?"

"...Fine." I sighed and shook my head. This was so stupid. But at the same time, I was relieved.. She'd offered me an alternative to dealing with my thoughts. As we neared the meeting, we spotted what looked like a dog romping around in the water. It was pretty hard to imagine him as "Harriett the Spy" or whatnot, but I guess that was the point.

"There he is.. I'm going to go check in on him." Cassie stated. I got the feeling she wanted me to leave, so I began walking in the other direction.

The moon was high, bathing the dunes in a silvery glow. As I crept closer to the meeting, I began to hear little snippets of voices. Weird languages, like the ones we'd heard at the construction site drifted over the tops of the mountains of sand. Creeping over the peak of one dune, I cursed under my breath and rolled back down. Guards! Of course! How stupid could I get? But had any of them seen me...? I inched my way up and peered over the top. Didn't look as though any had. That was a relief, at least. I learned to breathe again.

Too bad they weren't talking louder. Creeping around dunes, keeping as low as possible so I wouldn't be seen, I circled around the meeting. It was slow going, but was Josh at that meeting? Was he a controller? Too many questions, not enough answers. I didn't see why they'd be interested in some sort of druggie. Despite what he'd told me, I didn't quite believe that he was clean. There always was something deceptive about the way he spoke.

I was so intent on getting closer, I almost missed the drag markes in the sand. Hadn't the bird-boy said they'd set up a hot tub for it? Cautiously, I followed the trail a little distance away, making sure I wasn't being followed or catching up to people who wouldn't hesitate to revoke my freedom priviledges. Oh, and I'm not talking about my driver's permit.

Snippets of conversation began to assault me. Josh! I could hear his voice! Straining to hear what was being said, I stayed out of sight.

"It doesn't matter, we can't have you doing that." An older male said. How many were there? I slowly crept up the pile of sand that blocked me from view. Three people sat around the tub, including Josh. He looked different. Hints of violence dazzled in his firelit eyes as he struggled to hold his temper. He resembled the person I knew before. What changed?

The older man.. what was wrong with him? He was a controller, of course, yet his presence was sinister. As if evil radiated from his very being. Were all Yeerks like this? If they were, how could I not have seen it before?

"You promised! You said I could have some if I did this!" Josh spoke angrily. He seemed twitchy, almost out of control. At that, Tom stood up and unlocked the rather tiny hot tub. There was a harness installed over where the normal buttons would be.

"Enough of this. Place your head in the harness," Tom jerked his thumb at the contraption. Josh exploded in fury. Cursing, he lunged at Tom, his hands balled into fists. Three other men jumped on him, restraining him, shoving his head into the harness. With a sinking sensation, I slid down a little in the sand. He was begging for drugs. He'd seemed so different.. I should have known better. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Whatever, though. I peeked over the top of the dune, watching the unfolding drama.

What was that stuff in the hot tub? It moved like sludge, not even the gentle night breeze rippling the disgusting surface. "Haha, don't worry, buddy. You'll get over it soon enough," Tom slapped him on the back. I watched as Josh hesitated, then aquiesced. It's amazing what drugs will do to some people...

I choked on my own breath as my eyes burned, watching. He sat still for a minute, and I could tell he was scared, at least a little. It was in the stiffness of his back, the rigidness of his figure. But that stance was short lived before he began to struggle violently against the harness. Tom held him down, forcing his weight onto Josh's body.

"Easy, buddy. Just another three days, I promise," Tom's voice was smooth and controlled.

My mouth twisted on a horrified scream, but no sound emitted. No wonder he was different. He was infested! My silent cry echoed in my head as horror gripped my heart. 'Tom' smiled a wicked smile, enjoying the fight Josh was holding up. This was sick! How could I let this happen?! No! I wouldn't sit still! I tried to scrabble over the top of the dunes, my heart finally winning over my mind. Something had my shirt.

I tried to beat it off, but when I turned it was a dog... No, it was Jake. He yanked me back down, exposing his teeth in warning. I had to get to Josh! Addicted or not, this was just messed up.

Jake held me back, though my will had fled, leaving only emptiness and my limp limbs.

My heart stopped, resonated to a feverish pitch, and then shattered into a thousand diamond shards. The sound of silence assaulted me, like flames charring my skin... and then I realized...

Josh had stopped struggling.

I was disgusted with Josh, with myself, with this entire situation. He was voluntarily doing this. And for what? Drugs? I should have known better.

He didn't use to be like this.. I knew. But maybe destroyed brains were easier to control. They sure as hell were easier to manipulate.

I sighed as Jake stared at me with his dog eyes, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. I felt a pang for him. Tom was down there, and Jake had seen just as much as I had. Without thought, I leaned over and scratched him behind his ear. His tail wagged a little.

Our lives had just turned into a bizarre, insane, nightmare.

((Wow, I keep getting tons of updates. hug them all !! Okay, to answer a few questions...

The Ongachics were mentioned in the Andalite Chronicles, I believe. They were a race of nomads, and couldn't be controlled because their brains were spread in little nodes all over their bodies. Or maybe that was the other vague species they mentioned in there. For a complete(Or near complete) list of all the aliens in the series, go to Though they're a roleplaying site for AOL, they have tones of good information, pictures, etc.

Now, what to do for her first morph.. hmm... Oh, if you have any suggestions to make this story better, let me know! I love to here from you all!))


	6. Blame cotton candy

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten

Chapter 6

I'd somehow managed to drag myself back to the happy, ignorant bunch of idiots that were so naively being led to slavery. My gaze turned to them, almost murderous. I'd once heard that ignorance is bliss. That statement seemed to be true in this case. _If ignorance is bliss, why aren't people happier when you point out what dumbshits they are?_ Sarcasm radiated around my thoughts. I would not, could not process what had just transpired.

I was a total mess.

The gentle night breeze was blowing, and distantly, in the tiny fraction of my brain that wasn't centered on how much I wanted OUT of this situation, I regretted not bringing a jacket. Random curses floated through my mind. My fists clenched into tight balls as I squinted into the consuming darkness, trying to make out stars. Clouds were covering the sky.

A tap on my shoulder had me whirling around, fists clenched.

"What?" I snapped, my voice seething venemous hatred. Maybe it was a defense mechanism, I don't know. But something evil had possessed me, and wasn't letting go. I'd shot to my feet, ready to swing in case they decided they had come for me, come to shove my face below that sickening sludge and capture me, force me to be their meat. But it turned out to be Rachel, and there was no sympathy in her eyes. I didn't relax, instead, her intrusion on my thoughts pissed me off even more. "Is there a problem?" I smiled a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Get it together, Sari. You'll draw attention." Rachel's eyes narrowed, and with a catlike grace, she slid to the sand next to me. She didn't seem all gung-ho to talk to me, either.

"Attention? You want me to draw _attention_?! I can do that, you know. Maybe I'll just go find that ugly mongrel named Jake and stab him with a couple of forks, maybe _that'll_ draw atten-"

"Don't tell me you're blaming Jake for what happened, you stupid little bitch. What do you think you were doing, getting that close to the meeting? And almost crawling over that dune? Don't think Jake didn't tell us. You could have gotten us captured or sold into slavery or whatever!" Rachel shoved me down into the sand. Wonderful. Two willful females and they were pissed off at each other.

"Just shut up, you dumb little-" Rachel's hand slapped over my mouth as I tried to rise, silencing my audible voice.

"How about you shut up and listen! You are so stuck up, you know that?" She shook me a little. Her voice lowered to a hiss. Apparently, now that it was her causing the scene, she didn't care so much about how it would look to other people. "All it would take is one of us. _One_ of us, and suddenly it's everyone else. No more resistance. Maybe we haven't decided, but I don't give a shit, okay?! We, us, our little group is the only hope until the rest of the Anda-what's fleet shows up. _YOU_, all on your own, almost ruined it. So don't give me any of your bullshit, okay? Because I don't care. _No one_ will care if you're the reason we get those things shoved into our brains. _Got it_?!" Her azure eyes flashed as she gave me a final shove, and stalked back to others.

Mutely, I sat back up, numbly aware I was covered in sand. She was right.. I was so blinded by my own self pity that I hadn't even seen the dangerous possibility that could have destroyed our resistance even before it began. I watched her join the rest of the group. Other people who'd been observing the scene from a distance quickly resumed their activities. What was so wrong with me that I didn't see the possibilities? Maybe I wasn't as perceptive as I thought I was. I'd almost murdered the only attempt, however impossible it was, to save all of humanity from generations of slavery.

I had to do something, I knew. That was probably what had me so hysterical...

I didn't want to fight alone, but it wasn't like six people would make a difference anyway, let alone one. We had to try. There wasn't any other option. Things were strange.. Tom's and Josh's.. no, the yeerk's... interest in my dad worried me. It could be nothing, but.. still.

I wondered if salt would hurt them. Yeah, salt. Make them writhe in unbearable pain, watch them squirm...

But I doubted salt would be enough to wipe out this threat.

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Sunday was a lot of fun. Especially since my father reminded me that it was the day I had to go back to the state we'd moved from to say a formal 'goodbye' to my friends and mother. So, that meant I'd have to explain why I was bailing on the zoo 'mission' with the group, or 'friends' or whatever it was they could be considered. Currently, they were all pretty pissed at me. But I couldn't really blame them. I'd sort of over-reacted. Maybe there were some unresolved feelings for Josh or simply being an already-stressed out teenager with too much put on her shoulders, but still. There was no excuse for the way I'd acted.

After the annoyingly long car ride back to my hometown, I stopped by my old house to pack up what remained of my belongings. Yeah, we're not the most organized family. After dealing with the blob of flesh that was my mother and ignoring her tearful final goodbyes, I called my friend and voice teacher, Jill. Hey, I had a few more hours to kill before I returned to... well, I can't tell you where I'm located, now can I? We went to.. the zoo!

I'd promised her once, a long time ago, that I'd go to it with her and her baby at least once before I left. Better than being at 'home' in the slug infested, unfamiliar state. I really didn't feel like facing the others again, but that didn't mean I could shirk my duties as part of the group. That meant I had to acquire some sort of dangerous animal. We'd all decided that the Yeerks wouldn't be too impressed with a chicken, a mutt, and a horse that couldn't come close to qualifying for the Kentucky Derby. Okay, step one: Get to the zoo. Step two: Absorb the DNA of a powerful predator. Swell, but how was I going to do that?

"..remember to keep your throat open when you sing and.. Sari? Are you listening?" Jill looked at me curiously. She was one of those Christian women, so she never really got angry or upset. Good thing for me, since this was the third or fourth time she'd caught me zoning on her. Her little son, Jonus, was walking beside her, tugging on her motherly overalls and pointing a chubby finger in the direction of the Zebras.

"I'm trying to, it's just I've got a lot on my mind."

Jill started to respond, but her baby took off in the direction of a cotton candy machine. Just what the toddler needed: a boost of hyper annoyance-inducing candy! I followed her and managed a laugh, shaking my head. With Jill, I could just be a kid. She was the closest motherly influence I really had, since my own could be considered a crashed-and-burned failure.

I'd never really been close to my mom. For as long as I could remember, she'd been an eating machine, preferring expensive food from fine restaurants than dining at home with the family. She ate herself out of a marriage and a nice, two story home. I had hated living at her apartment, because I knew that meant I'd be subjected to rotten milk, canned food that expired at least a few years ago, and boxed mac 'n cheese so old that the noodles would crumble if you attempted to pick one up. So the move was a relief for me.

It was either Zoo or mom for the afternoon. I guess I'd rather risk being torn apart by one of those silver-backed gorillas than spend a day with the blob known as 'mother'. Gorilla? Hmm.. Naw, while 'Kong had power, he wasn't nearly as agile as some animals. I wanted something with speed. I wasn't so interested in attacking as being able to help my friends, and quickly. Something faster than those walking meat cleavers, the hork-ba-things...

Jill handed her child a jumbo cotton candy, and I inwardly groaned. That kid wasn't going to be able to sleep for weeks. We started to walk away when this lunatic girl appeared from out of nowhere. She saw that ball of fuzz and got this look in her eyes, like a queen laying claim to her kingdom or something. I wondered if she was mentally stable.

Her appearance was just... odd. Her skin and features were dark, reminding me of this romance novel cover chick I'd seen by Cassie Edwards. She was probably of Native American decent, for she was just a bit too dark to be hispanic. Her features seemed odd, but in a weird way, pretty.

While she, the person, looked fine, it was her clothes that made me wonder about her. It was summertime, just turning to autumn, and probably a good 90 degrees outside... odd for what she was wearing. Yellow, waterproof looking overalls that looked a few sizes too big were worn over a purple fuzzy sweater. Around her waist she wore a scarf. A scarf? Not a sash or a belt, but a scarf. Her black hair was in disarray underneath a tight knitted, ski cap. She looked like she'd just stopped by some sporting goods store and picked up whatever she found. The weirdest part was that her hands were addorned with rainbow toe socks. Yes, toe socks.

_What the... _She walked over to the adorable infant and, without even winking an eye, snatched the sticky, sweet ball from his small round fingers. He squealed in confusion and outrage, a wordless demand that she return his fluffy mass at once. However, the impertinant chick ignored the squalling infant and turned to walk away. What the heck? Did she actually think she could get away with something like that? I took off after the girl as Jill, being a mom, consoled her child and bought him a new one. Go figure.

"Excuse me?! Hey! Hey you!" I shoved through the surrounding crowd, trying to keep up with the chick. She didn't pay me any attention, yet seemed to have this uncanny ability to disappear into the masses of people. I tried to keep her in sight, but after the third time I lost track of her, I'd had enough. As soon as I located her hastilly retreating figure, I darted after her, preparing to tackle her. Yeah, it was stupid. Okay, maybe even _really _idiotic, but I'd had a hard weekend.

I barrelled after her, determined not to lose her. But damn, that girl was fast. She broke into an all out run, tiny wisps of 'sticky-fied' cotton candy floating past me. She threw herself over a nearby wall. Blindly needing to take my anger out on this impertinant little bitch, I followed her... Boy, was that stupid.

I tried to stop myself from flying over the narrow ledge that separated me from a forty foot drop. So much for my ideas of foreward thinking. Hah! I'd just tossed myself over a wall that was habitat to some animal. My fingers clawed at dirt and plants as I tried hard to get a hand hold on the four foot ledge. I skidded to a halt, trying to grab the guard rail fence. My fingers grazed the fence and I stumbled over the ledge.

The only thing that saved me from certain death was the fact that there was a moat surrounding the habitat. I back flopped with an audible _slap _into the pool. Note to self: Don't jump fourty feet into water that's only six feet deep. It's just a bad idea. As soon as the shock passed, I broke surface, swearing with every movement I took. Every part of my body hurt.

_Sari. You're an idiot, you know that? _I floated to my stinging, wrenched back only to see with dizzy vision the wild eyes of the weird girl staring down at me. She, the stupid jerk, had actually caught the railing before falling down. Her eyes were round, not in fear, but in a strange expression that looked something like ecstacy. She shoved wads of cotton candy into her mouth, her unblinking gaze unnerving me.

"You little bitch, this is your friggin' fault, you know that, right?!" I screeched up at her, gingerly floating towards the bank of this moat. I would have shaken my fist at her if I hadn't hurt all over.

"I apologize. Ah-pol-oh. Jize-uh. It was not my intent to cause you to hurl yourself over your primitive restraint barrier. Hu-rrrl. reee-staynt! Taint. Re-" She continued to play with the sounds for a little while as I eased my bruised body onto the soft soil. I've done some pretty stupid things in my life, but this had to be the dumbest one yet. How was I supposed to be trusted with some pitiful resistance?

"Oh, shut UP already! If you had just bought the freaking candy instead of stealing it, I wouldn't be down here." My statement was only partially true, but so what? I was pissed. She glanced at the remnants of the cotton candy, then at me.

"I shall return your sweet fluff ball. Ffffluuufffff." She relished the word and then, adding insult to injury, dropped the paper stick with the cottony sugar into the moat next to me. Naturally, it disintigrated into the water around me. "Turn. Re. Turrrrn." I saluted the stupid bitch with half a peace sign, something I probably shouldn't have done in front of the crowd that had gathered and witnessed the exchange, but whatever. The kiddies could question their moms about it later.

I sat up slowly, ignoring the frantic commands of the zoo staff as they radioed what had occurred. It now dawned on me that I was indeed in a habitat, one I recognized well. It was a fairly passable replica of the African savanna. And not fifty feet away crouched the animal that had been my childhood obsession.

The moat and fourty foot wall were in place for a very solid reason, and that was to keep this predator from escaping_. Swell_. I'd quite literally fallen into the Lion's, or rather Cheetah's, den. I was a weak, injured creature in the territory of this powerful, majestic creature. By the looks of its jutting ribs, it hadn't been fed for a while. _...Not good! So much for decent zoo management._

The cat cautiously got to it's feet. No doubt my screaming and thrashing had either attracted its attention, or pissed it off. I watched in dread, frozen with fear, as it openly began to stalk me. Closer, closer it crept.. and then time seemed to slow down as the cat's muscled bunched, then fired, springing towards me at an insanely fast speed.

The majestic creature that I'd loved since I was a little girl clamped it's horribly strong jaws around my throat.

So much for needing to worry about being cleaved in half by a hork-bajir.

((A.N.- Ooh, thanks SO much for all the wonderful reviews! huggles them all Yeah, yeah, I know, I need to update more. I've been busy with recording studios and photoshoots all that good stuff. Okay, here's the news! This story, along with many future animorphs fics, will be co-written with my Lucky Irish friend. Can I just say 'Yay'? Heehee, I like co-writing. It's fun. And just to clear up any questions about that weird girl, I SWEAR she'll have relevance to the story.. just not right now. Mwahaha. Bye the way, I apologize for any spasticities(I know, it's not a word, blargh!) in the following responses. Sugar rushes are fun.

UKHoneyB- I'll never say whether it's foreshadowing or not! You'll never know!!! . ; Well, when I get around to it, you will, but hey.. Heehee, Kangaroo. Bounce bounce. And yep, can't do anything. Yet!

sarah-Yea, ahhehheh, about the whole 'Toby' thing.. I couldn't think of a name for a cat, so I used my own cats name.. Which I named after the Animorph. Funny how that all works out, huh? ;; And of course there will be revenge. With lots of salt. rubs hands together evilly

Lady Kino-She'll join the group eventually! And yeah. That website that has all the good information is Extremeanirp. Add a .com after it, and you'll have the site! I was thinking about making a site especially for animorph fanfiction authors, so we can put drawings and photos up of our characters, not to mention our stories and just have a place to hang out and talk. That a good idea or no?

Childlyke-Yay! Glad you like the story! huggle I need to read your stories soon. I've been super busy! But hey, lets just not let this happen to your love. Because that would majorly suck.

LilManiac-hands her some duct tape Duct tape can fix anything, hopefully it'll work the same for... nevermind, I'm b eing really weird. Ty for reviewing,

Alright, despite the fact that this was totally spastic due to sky rocketing sugar levels, I hope you all feel loved. Mwahaha! After this, my Lucky Irish friend will also be adding comments. W00t. Don't you like that word? I like that word.))


	7. Spiders are EVIL

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten  
Chapter 7

I was going to die. I struggled in vain against the magnificent cheetah, wondering at the idiocy of the situation. If I survived this, I need to make a point to stop letting my emotions control me.

I couldn't die now! How could this happen?! Zoo security guys were shouting for tranquilizer guns over their radios, but they wouldn't arrive in time. I knew... and fear clutched at my heart. Struggling hard, I raked at the beast with my hands, kicking, punching, but it was all in vain. No! I couldn't die!

The Yeerks! I had a war to fight! My friends! My dad! They were counting on me! My vision began to dim. No! _No no no_! I tried to throw the cheetah off. My body was unresponsive. I kept waiting for my life to flash before my eyes... waiting for death to finally claim my soul. My limbs were deadweight. Why weren't they working? Despite this, I clung to consciousness. I didn't want to comprehend that the thread of my life could be cut so short. I hadn't even_ lived _yet!

There was no peace in me. My brain was starving from the lack of oxygon. Didn't people who died in a state of horror exist as ghosts? Were they denied existence to heaven? _Hah! If that's even where I'm going_. I think I read somewhere that they did.. No! I wouldn't wander the Earth as a lost soul! I couldn't let that happen! But how? What had the book said? My eyes closed as the answer to my question drifted to me.

The others.. they'd take care of Earth. They'd save everyone. I smiled as darkness wrapped its icy fingers around the remains of my conscious mind. Peace swept through my body and soul. I saw a blinding light, something that looked like a tiny old elfman.. and then a revelation...

One with the cat. Become the cat. You are one with the cat. Yes.. one with the cat. Becoming the cat. If I was one with the cat, I would be okay! ...right?

Air! Blessed air! My eyes flew open and were greeted with the harsh sun. I sucked oxygen into my burning lungs. Each breath made my lungs scream in agony, but it was air! The cat was still at my throat, but it's jaws were relaxed. Its eyes seemed to be glazed over, and its pupils were dilated. Blood ran down my neck from where its teeth still clung to my windpipe. I struggled hard with my hundred-ton limbs, finding that with oxygen came control of my body. No! I wouldn't die today! I couldn't explain what had just happened, but did I care?! Hell no! The damned cheetah had tried to kill me! All at once, angry adrenaline flooded my system, and, despite the fact that every movement caused extreme pain, I flung my arms over that cat and hauled it off of me. I rolled over on top of it, keeping it's head faced towards the ground. Here, I had the advantage of my weight.

Normally, cheetahs weigh around sixty to seventy pounds, and had this one not been clearly starving, I'd have not had the strength to shove it off. My arms wrapped tightly around it and I slammed my weight down on the poor creature. It would NOT have me again! I gasped great gulps of painful air, gurgling on the saliva that had collected in the back of my throat. Despite the sun's angry fire burning my eyes, I glared angrily up at the zoo staff. You'd think they'd be trained to respond better to situations like this! As the cheetah revived from its relaxed stupor, the cobwebs in my brain were finally stripped away.

The cat was tired, first from its run, then from having to fight with me, not to mention its malnourishment. It didn't give much of a struggle. Definitely a good thing since I hadn't much fight left in me, either. What had just happened? Why had it released its death grip? Maybe I'd take up a belief in God, after all..

I glanced up as zoo staff came running, having secured the other cats in their indoor habitat. One of the walls in a nearby 'rock' side had opened, and I didn't even bother to hesitate. The cheetah had apparently had enough. I staggered to my feet and moved with all the speed my oxygon-starved body could muster towards that opening as the poor creature merely slunk off, tail between its legs.

I walked with difficulty, and my lungs felt like they were breathing fire. But I was alive.

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Zoo medics had cleansed and bandaged the puncture wounds on my hands and neck, then sent me to the hospital. The staff there stressed over the cut I'd gotten from the construction site on the back of my hand. So what, I was alive, wasn't I?! When they demanded an explanation for the laceration, I simply smiled with my high-on-life attitude, and told them that I was an angsty teen who wanted attention by cutting myself and jumping into cheetah dens. With a smirk, I also mentioned I hadn't taken my 'medication' today. Some of the nurses gave me odd looks, but the doctors insisted that I seek help once I returned to my new home. I didn't bother to show them my feet, which were still full of deep cuts from the construction site two days prior to this incident. And I sure as hell didn't mention this was the second time I'd almost been killed in two days.

They couldn't believe that my esophagus hadn't collapsed. Some sort of medical miracle, they said. Did I care? Heck no! I was alive! After many apologies, scoldings, lectures, 'please don't sue us' phrases, and a speech about how suicide wasn't the answer, they let me go to the bathroom. I still had a hard time walking, but I figured my shaky gait would improve in time. No, I wasn't even going to THINK about that stupid girl who'd caused all this. Who in their right mind steals candy from a baby?

When I approached the mirror, my appearance startled me. Yeah, I was still damp, my hair was a mess, and I had bandages on my throat and hands, but it was my mascara tears that first got my attention. They were very, very symmetrical, running from beneath my eyes down to my mouth in neat, vertical lines. The only problem was I hadn't put any makeup on that morning. What the heck..?

I tried washing it off, but that didn't happen. It was like a tattoo, literally injected in my skin. It was like.. cheetah tearlets. Almost identical to them, actually, but lighter, as if they hadn't fully developed. _Oh please, please be mascara_.

I turned and examine myself in the mirror. There was a bulge in my pants where there shouldn't have been, and my butt was looking strangely distorted. I didn't have much of one in general, but right now it was just.. oddly shaped. Twisting so I could view myself in the mirror, I slowly lowered my jeans to figure out what the hell had happened to me. Had the fall messed it up? I dropped my pants to my knees. The derriere that greeted me was NOT my own, rather, a cheetah's. With a pink, hairless tail. I screamed loud enough to wake the dead.

It was like a cheetah rump attached to my torso, but the joints hadn't yet shifted. Which was probably the only reason I was able to walk at all, and also the reason it was difficult to do so. How the heck did I support myself? My spine was at an odd curvature, looking as though it would snap at any minute. It didn't make sense. Then again, the fact that I had a cat's butt didn't, either.

Had I started to morph the cheetah? How? What had happened exactly? I tried to think back to that dark point in time when I was on death's doorstep. There was a little man with pointed ears. Was that supposed to be God? If it was, the bible had it way, WAY off... and then.. In a flash, it hit me. I'd told myself to become the cat. I must have acquired it and started morphing! That still left some questions unanswered, but right now I just wanted to know how to fix it.

_Well, I concentrated on becoming the cheetah, so maybe I should concentrate on being me_. Yeah, that was it! I am Sari. SARI. I'm 5'5, I don't have mascara tattoos, and I sure as hell don't have a cat's arse. I felt the changes occur that I hadn't been paying attention to earlier. My butt shrunk and my tail shlooped back into my spine. My cheeks itched.

When I opened my eyes, I no longer had mascara tearlets, and my derriere was my own once again.

Unfortunately, at this point one of the doctors burst through the door to come to my rescue, apparently roused by my earlier scream. Any questions pertaining to my sanity were then answered; I was bent over, mooning myself in the mirror, and giggling hysterically.

He, in a very calm, talking-to-mentally-unstable-people voice, asked me to write down my dad's phone number. I complied and told them to ask for Marco.

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Jill couldn't hug me enough; she kept jabbering on and on and kissing my cheek and hugging me and asking if I was all right. I wasn't ungrateful to Jill; she didn't ask many questions about why I'd done something so stupid, and she kept the news reporters away. Even so, I just wasn't used to so much affection from a woman.

Somehow, I'd gotten off with just a strict warning from the zoo and several stern recommendations for counseling. I'm not quite sure what Marco told them, but he sounded 'adult' enough for them to believe he was my father. Hard to believe from Marco, but hey, I give credit where credit is due. He told me, in between almost uncontrolled laughter, that we'd "have a serious talk about taking our medication" when I got home.

I didn't even get kicked out of the zoo, which was good considering I got to acquire another morph. That is, after I got back from the hospital. You know the routine, make sure your brain isn't damaged. Fortunately my pupils weren't dialated and I was fine a few hours later, so they let me go. Yet again, my cut up feet weren't detected! Score two for me!

Jill couldn't stop blubbering enough and kept _apologizing_ to me. Yeah, as if she'd thrown me off it! She couldn't believe I I actually intended to return to the zoo, but being the sweet, aquiecing christian she is, and seeing that this was the last time I'd probably see her for awhile, she aquiesced.

They had a show, "Hawk Quest", where they displayed birds of prey and their aerial skills. We were followed around by zoo security, but so what? They kept the reporters away.

I thought it was a cool show, but I could barely contain my excitement. While everyone else in this crowd could only dream about soaring and diving like these birds did, I knew I could actually do it. I could become the bird. Sure, I wasn't into the whole kill-and-eat-the-poor-little-mouse-with-my-wicked-beak thing, but the grace and skill of the birds excited me. When we neared the show's end, the trainer let whoever wanted to touch a bird pet her great bald eagle. _Oh goodie, now I won't have to kidnap a birdie too_! I bounced out of my seat, but Jill wouldn't take her baby anywhere near those wicked claws.

I filed by in the line. Zoo security looked edgy and stayed close, but I don't think they wanted to deal with someone who was dubbed a suicidal nut. All I had to do was touch it! How easy was that? I smiled as my fingertips brushed the feathers of the bird, completely ignoring the increasingly worried looks of the security guards. Its golden eyes stared me down as I walked on. A good thing I'd only touched it for an instant, because it let out a piercing screech as the little kid behind me extended his grubby hands to dirty its shining feathers. I was vibrating with energy, wanting to try out all the beautiful tricks he'd done, wanting to taste the freedom of the skies. I hadn't dared think about becoming one with the hawk as I touched it. I did NOT want to risk morphing in front of the crowd, because next time it might have been an exposed part of me as opposed to something concealed by my clothing. The hawk didn't 'mellow out' as the cheetah had done. So it wasn't a side effect of 'acquiring' its DNA, I figured. The relaxing cheetah had been an act of God, as Jill said.

_Hm. God looks kind of funny. _

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A little while later, I returned to what I had dubbed the "State of Slugs". Home.

Monday came as it always does, as a dreary, unwanted day. But to me, school was heaven. It was normal and didn't involve attacks from aliens _or_cheetahs! So it was obviously as swell as swell could be.

I rolled out of bed at six in the morning, threw on clothes that may or may not have matched, and decided to actually eat breakfast for once. Screw makeup, I wanted some wheaties! So what if I looked like a mess? Life was good!

The bus ride to school was the usual; juvenile high-schoolers were pretending to be 'cool' and cursing every other word. Typical subjects assaulted my ears as the spoiled rich kids bemoaned their lives and complained that daddy had bought them a _blue_ Mercedes instead of a red one. Oh! Life was so cruel to these poor, unfortunate souls! Thankfully, the trip to school was short.

Since we had half an hour before the first bell even rang, I sat down at my locker to scribble down some crap for a paper I'd forgotten to write over the weekend. School work! Fun. Normal. Normalcy was good. As I wrote, I realized I'd forgotten to brush my hair, and finally my typical vanity kicked in. Ugh! No scrunchies. Hmm..

I was in the process of shoving my pencil through an unruly bun when Cassie showed up. Damn. By the expression in her glittering eyes, I knew that all hopes of normalcy were about to be shattered. Double damn.

"Hi, Sari. I'm glad you're back," Cassie plopped down beside me. She cut right to business. "I have some news."

"News?" I repeated dumbly. I wondered if my escapade had made the news in this area. I hoped not.

"Yeah, you've missed some things," Cassie glanced casually around, making sure no one was within hearing distance. Even though the only people nearby were discussing mundane, ordinary topics(boyfriends, shoes, that stuff), she leaned in close. "Jake is going to spy on Chapman."

"Okay, while that's all good n' dandy, who's this Chapman guy? Rachel's boyfriend?" Cassie's nose wrinkled in laughter and slight disgust as I absently glanced around for my pencil. I still had a paper to finish.. Wait, where did I put it? I could have sworn I had it here a minute ago..

"I don't know, I don't think Rachel likes older, married men," Cassie flashed me a fleeting smile. She must be worried. "Chapman is our vice principal."

"Mm. So Jake's turning stalker for what point and purpose?" Okay, now this wasn't cool. Where did I put that stupid pencil?! I looked around, a tad bit annoyed. Seriously, where was it?

"He's.. well, he's high on 'their' list." Cassie gave me a look and I sighed. Man, couldn't I have a reprieve from all these weird events? "He's going to morph and follow him around to see if he can learn anything."

"Awesome. So when is he going to play psycho-stalker?"

"Today, during first period. He's going to morph a l-"

RIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG! The first bell rang. Oh man, I had only five minutes to finish the bogus paper I'd started. And WHERE was my pencil?!

"Well, we'd better get to class," Cassie smiled and she stood up. However, I didn't follow, instead I moved to my hands and knees and began searching the floor. How do pencils just disappear like that..? Cassie rose a curious eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for my pencil," I replied, checking under a row of lockers. "Go on without me, I'm going to stop by the bathroom and whatnot," I looked up questioningly as Cassie started laughing.

"Okay, I'll see you later then. By the way," Cassie started walking away. "If you're looking for your pencil, it's in your hair."

I mock-glared at her retreating figure, feeling pretty stupid with myself as I dragged the utensil from my rat's nest that passed as a bun. Back to my essay! I scribbled down a few more lines and a pathetic excuse for a conclusion. Ugh. Definitely not my best work. If I was lucky, the teacher wouldn't suggest placement in the Special Ed. department.

Now that I'd 'finished' my homework, I had to find a bathroom. Sometimes I hate being a female. Really. I don't see how guys can trust anything that bleeds for a week and doesn't die. It's just not right! Then there was that whole problem with this being my second day of school. Just where were those bathrooms? A sign would be helpful right around now.

I wandered, lost, until the first period bell rang. Great. Now I was late and lost and I had no idea as to the location of my first period class OR the bathroom. Yet another reason I hate big schools! As I turned down yet another identical hallway, I saw Jake. He was hanging out, glancing around casually, you know, acting 'cool'. He glanced down the other way and, acting oh so 'hip', wedged himself into his locker.

_What the heck? Why doesn't he just morph in the bathroom? _

Oh! Bathroom! To my right! Well, Jake could manage on his own. That's what he'd been planning anyway, right? I shoved open the door to the ladies room and did 'girl' things. Surprisingly, there was no one in there. I guess rabid packs of preps weren't allowed to all go to the bathroom together during class! Imagine that.

After I did my 'woman things', I left the bathroom. Once again, I was faced with the issue of being very, very lost. In my old school, the hallways had been at least semi-color coordinated. Here? Hah, they all looked the same! I glanced hopelessly around, my helplessness pissing me off. I hate being in situations that I can't control.

Sighing in frustration, I scuffed the floor with my ratty tennis shoes. Then..

A spider! I _hate_ spiders! Luckily I didn't scream, but I did make a sort of choking noise as I backed away from the hideous thing. I read somewhere once that some people fear spiders more than they fear death. I definitely believe it. I inched along the wall, but the grotesque little monster kept coming at me. Ugh! What was I going to do? I could imagine it with its insane number of eyes and gnashing mouth parts, sinking it's fangs into my skin, unleashing its venom... Ahhh!

It took all my willpower to slam my foot down on it. God I hate spiders. I slammed it down, hard as hell, not giving it another taste of life. I lifted my foot gingerly.. oh no! It was stuck to my shoe!

_Getitoffgetitoffgetitoffgetitoff!!!!!!!! _

I hopped on one foot over to a trash can and hastily scraped spider guts off of my shoe. _Hah! Man has finally triumphed over a defenseless creature_! Satisfied the tiny beastie was truly, one hundred and ten percent dead, I turned to walk down the hall. But something was nagging at the back of my mind... Hm, probably nothing important.

Now it was time to make sense of this maze of a school. You'd think they'd built it on some sort of grid, but from my perspective, it didn't seem that way. Weird curves and dead ends could probably lead me to the other end of the building, and then where would I be? At least then I'd be able to circle back to the enterance I knew... And still, that little voice kept nagging away in my skull. I was forgetting something, I knew I was! Homework was done, more or less... I didn't think I had to talk to anyone, since I would talk to my 'friends' later that night..

Wait a second! Jake! Oh no... Dread drained the color from my face. He'd morphed in his locker, right outside the girl's bathroom. He was supposed to spy on that Chapman guy.. The spider! Dear god!

I raced back down the hallway, my heart practically exploding out of my chest. Jake! Oh God, please.. No! I slumped to my knees in front of the trash can. A broken, dejected spider lay mangled on the floor. My breathing became shallow and ragged.

"Jake..?" Oh. My. God. I scooped up the tiny body, despite my deep revulsion, and stared at the remains of the guy I knew as Jake. Great tears welled in my eyes. "No.. oh god, I've killed you! Holy hell! No...!" My sob was cut short on another intake of breath. Hyperventilating isn't fun. Breathe.. just breathe! "Jake! You have to be alive! Please, wake up! Move, do something!"

I was a sobbing mess. I barely knew the guy, but I'd just killed a human-turned-spider. I'd murdered him! Sure, it wasn't intentional, but even so! He was DEAD! As in no longer existing! How could I have done this? He was probably in heaven now, drinking coffee with the elf-God. How could he die? His life cut so short, he was just a kid! I was such a horrible person, damned to hell for all eternity.. How would his parents take this?! His corpse lay motionless, not even a tiny little twitch that might make for the tiniest hint of li-

(Sari?) Jake's voice resonated in my brain. My palm clenched instinctively around his tiny body. He was alive! I picked him up gingerly by one of his legs.

"Jake! Oh god, you're alive! Here, I'll take you into the bathroom and you'll be okay, you'll be demorph, hah! I thought I'd killed you! Don't you ever-"

(What are you talking about?) Jake sounded puzzled. The poor dear! He must be clinging to consciousness by a thread!

"Oh Jake, I stepped on you! You must be in so much pain, oh god, just hang on, I'll get you somewhere safe so you can demorph and-"

(Wait, calm down, you didn't step on me.) I blinked stupidly at the spider.

"Huh?"

(I'm right behind you. It took awhile to get control of these lizard instincts, otherwise I would have said 'hi' sooner.) Jake sounded amused. Slowly, I turned around, still clutching the arachnid.. you know, just in case. A tiny iguana-looking lizard stared up at me, almost comically.

"...Jake, I'm going to **_KILL_** you!"

xxxxXXXXXXXxxxxxxXXXXXXXXxxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxxxXXXXXXXxxxxx

((A.N.-Oooh, more reviews! uber happy You guys are awesome! It took me awhile to get this one out because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it. But I figured it out!)

LilManiac-If you mean the girl, yes, she was an andalite. If you mean the thing stranguling her, I mentioned that it was a cheetah. )

Aldrea-Good cookie! Munches

Lady Kino-I don't know, I guess we'll find out if salt works! Oh, and the website is up! Her boyfriend is perfect though her eyes. Doesn't mean he is, but so far to her, he is. P

UKHoneyB-Yeah, lots of swearing. They're teenagers, they're emotional, and they use cusswords. shrug You'll find out about the Andalite later, and Ax does indeed join the group. We're not ignoring him! Don't worry, little miss 'cotton candy' isn't disappearing from the story yet!

D.H L'Orange-Haha, yeah, she gets explained later. Also is an explanation of why the Animorphs never found her in K.A.'s series, too, but I'm not going to let on any details. Everything ties in, I SWEAR!

Korean Pearl-Oooh! You reviewed! huggle I just thought I wasn't worthy of your praise. Haha, anyway, in the second chapter, that's a quote from the actual book. Rachel says it. Now begins the spiral! With the handshake, I still don't get it. That's just my rational! As for the Sari/Josh thing, yes, that's it exactly, lots of highschoolers DO do that. Which is another reason it's in the story-she's just your average girl! Yeah, I know the cursing was intense. It's time to lighten up a bit! I'll edit if after I check out the rules for it.

Thankyou all SO much for reviewing! huggles I feel so good now. D Anyway, my website is up. Just type in animorfic and add a dot com, or search on google for 'Animorfic'. You'll find it! What do you think of this chapter? TY!

-Fiery))


	8. Holier than thou!

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten

Chapter 8

((I want to thank Lady Kino for pointing out the Marco's # inaccuracy. It is now fixed. TY Lady Kino!))

I was in the process of strangling the Jake-turned-lizard when I got to meet Chapman. Okay, so maybe that's not exactly what I was doing, but Jake couldn't have been too happy.

"You jerk, you were probably standing there the whole time, watching me act like a total idiot!" I snarled at Jake, struggling to find a middle ground between my relief he wasn't dead and my desire to break his little lizard neck for watching me sorrowfully bemoan the death of a pathetic spider. I grabbed him beneath his scaly, kicking legs and watched him wiggle uncomfortably, cackling maniacly the whole time. Unfortunately for Jake, my fear of small creatures doesn't extend to reptiles.

(Hey! Put me down! This is _not _comfortable.) Jake's tone was somewhere between amusement and annoyance. Hah! As if I'd let him off that easilly! I pulled him real close so he got a great view of my big, glaring eye. I couldn't help feeling slightly like a sadist as I watched his little body writhe between my fingers. I wasn't actually hurting him... Yet.

"What? What's that? You want me to put you down? Is that your FINAL request?" My lips broke into a broad smile. Oh yes, the rusty wheels in my head were turning.

(Um, yes.) A snort of giggles that sounded completely unlike me escaped from my throat. _Well, okay, if that's what he wants_.. With that, I released him and gleefully observed his none-too-graceful plummet to the linoleam floor below. (_OW! Hey!_) Ahh, the satisfaction of watching him scrabble away from me was too much. I sighed in happy contentment.

I swear that stupid lizard-boy glared at me. At _me_! I was simply an innocent by-stander! Besides, he was the one who forgot to specify how he wanted to be put down.

"Oops. It slipped."

(Yeah, I'll _bet_ "it" did. I'm gonna kick your-)

A rough, calloused hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me almost violently around. Startled, I stared at the man, wide eyed. He was balding, somewhere around middle age, and he looked rather authoritive. A teacher. Well, they couldn't possibly give me detention on my second day, right?

"What are you doing out of class young lady? School started fifteen minutes ago. Or did you forget?" His voice was stern. I leaned foreward slightly to catch a glimpse of his nametag. _Chapman. _Now why did that ring a bell?

"Uhhh.." I tried to force something intelligent out of my mouth.

(Sari, what's going on? Who's that?) The thought-speech was an annoying buzz at the back of my mind.

"Actually, I sort of did forget. Well, not really. But I had to go to the bathroom. To do feminine things. I got lost. But now I've found the bathroom." Chapman's stern countenance flickered with amusement at my ramblings. I knew there was something I should be remembering about this guy, but..

"You got lost on the way to the bathroom?"

(Hello, earth to space cadet, what's going on? I'm cowering behind the trashcan here and let me tell you, these odors aren't the most pleasant.) Jake sounded annoyed while I tried not to give away any indication I could hear his thought-speech. You know, in case this Chapman dude was someone I really didn't want finding out things like that.

"Yeah, uhh, I'm a new student. Hey, maybe you're one of my teachers! Mr. Chapman, your name sounds familiar somehow." I said his name simply for Jake's benefit. Hey, he didn't know that this wasn't my absolute first day of school.

(CHAPMAN? That's CHAPMAN you're talking to?! Why didn't you say so!) That damned lizard's voice exploded in my head. I winced slightly, and then tried to disguise the obvious motion by bending over and acting like I had bad cramps. Oooh, right! Jake was supposed to be spying on him.. which meant he had a slug in his head. Chapman's lips pressed together in a grim, thin line.

"That might be because I'm the vice principal at this school. And if you don't hurry back to class, you'll be in my office getting VERY familiar with me." He gave me a meaningful look. The juvenile part of my brain giggled at his phrasing, but I managed to keep a straight face.

"Yes sir, I understand. I have.. feminine problems that I need to deal with. Is that okay?" I tried not to stare at his forehead as I spoke in the most humble voice I could muster. _I wonder if the slugs can get in through your nose..._

"Then take care of it and get back to class." He grunted with finality and I stumbled gratefully back into the bathroom.

(I'm going to follow Chapman and see if I can find anything out. If you can, wait around, I'll be back soon. If not, see you after class.) Jake's voice sounded distant. I guess he was busy playing spy and chasing the unsuspecting vice principal down the hall.

Hmm. What to do? I could go to class and be bored for another fourty minutes or I could sit here and be bored for thirty. Decisions, decisions. I opted to wait, seeing as it would probably take just as long to get back to class as it had to find the bathroom, so I'd end up spending the remaining ten minutes of the period explaining to the class that I was late because I'd gotten lost on the way to the bathroom. Clearly, that was _not _happening.

I can be patient when I want to be. Which, usually, is never, but I wasn't expecting Jake to come back with anything too juicy, and it was an excuse to ditch out on Math, so why not?

But just because I could be patient didn't mean I wouldn't get bored. The bathroom was pretty nice, I decided, despite the slightly acidic smell of lingering vomit from the bulemics. And the walls were covered in graffiti.

I contemplated adding Jake's phone number to the wall of jerks that was scraped onto the once pretty red paint of the bathroom stalls. You know, just to get back at him for the spider dealio. Luckily for Jake, I didn't know his phone number. I did, however, find Marco's on that wall. Or at least someone named Marco. Hmm. Coincidence? I don't think so.

I checked my phone to see if the guy was actually the Marco I knew... Imagine, that, it was! But one of the numbers was wrong. I smerked, and decided to fix it with my fingernail. Maybe he'd get lucky enough for a girl to call him?

Another score of minutes later or so, Jake decided to show up. It kind of freaked me out seeing as one, I was about an inch and a half away from the mirror examining all the icky blackheads buried in the skin of my nose, and two, I was expecting a lizard. I should have recognized him, but my site was impaired.. or something. Angrilly, I planted my fists on my hips and swiveled towards him, adopting my holier-than-thou attitude that's never earned me any friends.

"Hey asshole, your bathrooms on the other-" I bit my tongue and immediately relaxed. Oh, right. Haha. "Hi Jake!" A chipper smile broke across my lips as I tried to cover my fumble. Eep. He looked none-too-pleased with my flighty-bitchy-femme outburst. "So, my private detective, did you find out Chapman's phone number? His favorite color? Please, I've _got_ to know!"

"Not exactly," Jake said in a low, quiet voice. He seemed perterbed.

"Tch, well aren't you a bloody ray of sunshine," Leaning back against the sink, I shrugged and switched to business mode. "So, Mr. Bond, what'd you find out?"

"...There's a door in the janiter's closet."

"A door," I mentally snorted. "Oh, how threatening. Is it like one of those Zelda doors that smacks you into the ground if you try to open it?" Jake was taken aback by my response, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"You play video games?"

"Only the good ones. So what's so special about this door?" Back to the issue at hand...

"Well, actually, it's a wall. Like a secret passage. You twist one of the hooks that holds up the mops and then the wall swings open."

"Well, that's interesting. Maybe he has a peephole to the girl's locker room?" I smiled brightly. Jake shook his head, his lips curling as he tried not to laugh at the image of Chapman as a pedophile. What an absolutely lovely thought.

"I don't think so... There were screams. Human screams." His words halted all nasty thoughts of dirty old voyeuristic men. I suddenly felt very still...

"Like painful screams? Are they torturing people down there?"

"I don't know. But I think that's the enterance to the Yeerk Pool we've been looking for." His words alarmed me. He didn't know.

And what was that he was talking about? Enterance to a slug-pool?

"What's a yeerk pool, exactly?" I tried to not speak through gritted teeth. It annoyed me that he couldn't tell me whether or not the yeerks were some type of sadist group or whatnot.

"What do you mean, what's a yeerk pool? Oh!" Realization hit. My foot tapped impatiently. "That's right, you were getting the rest of your stuff from your hometown. It's basically where the Yeerks go to feed. They slide out of their host's ear and bathe in sludge for a few hours, according to Tobias. They have to do this every three days or they die."

"Wait, hold on a second. How does Tobias know about this?" I was skeptical.

"He says the Andalite sent him visions in his head, before he died. You know.. when Tobias stayed behind for a few seconds and we all ran." Ahh, so only Tobias had known these things. That was way too suspicious for my liking.

"Uh, not all of us ran right away. I stayed behind for a few seconds. I didn't get any so-called visions." The sealed it in my mind. I'd done nearly the same things as Tobias, and for some reason, he knew all this information that the others apparently didn't. That didn't sit right.

"Well apparently Tobias did." Jake defended.

"And you believe him why?" Was Jake an idiot? He just let that slide? _I thought we'd already had this conversation. No one can be trusted, dipwad. _Apparently not even Tobias.

"He has a lot of conviction. You've heard him talk, you know how much he supports this."

"Yeah? Well trusting in his _conviction_ could be your _condemnation _if it ends up we're trusting the enemy," Jake hesitated. I could almost see the doubt niggling at the back of his mind. With a sigh, I continued. "Couldn't he be one of _them_? It'd be so easy to set a trap for the poor, naive little children."

"..Yeah, I guess. But couldn't he have turned us in at the Sharing meeting if he was one of them?" I sighed at his words. Jake just didn't get it.

"Okay, he was a friggin' hawk. Five people against a hawk? Somehow I don't think that's in his favor there. And secondly, he could totally get us in a better position than that. Come on, the place where the yeerks feed? It's gotta be crawling with worms. But hey, sounds like a good idea to me, why _don't_ we just waltz on down there and get some mind-controlling slime balls shoved into our-"

"Shut up! Tobias isn't a controller, period, the end!" Jake's voice was rising, echoing in the tiled bathroom.

"Oh, but he could be!" My voice was rising in volume to match Jake's. Then I realized how stupid it would be to get in an shouting match here, of all places, where everyone could hear and either deport us to Assistant Principal Chapman's office for disrupting class(and Jake would get it double for invasion of the girl's bathroom), or a yeerk-slave could tote us off to make us into Pinochio replicas and replace our 'concious' Giminey Crickets with Hitlers. Grudgingly, I lowered my voice, feeling the entire while like he was getting the best of me. And you know what, he looked too damned smug. Through gritted teeth, I all but spat out my words. "Look, you know there could be some truth to what I'm saying. So let's just watch ourselves, okay? I personally value my freedom."

"And what do you think we should do, since you're so smart?" Jake said, eyes blazing. He was so angry, he almost reminded me of Rachel...

"If we decide to go down to the pool, I suggest you leave Tobias out of it. Don't even tell him. We have to have some sort of proof he's not '_under the influence' _before we leap into the heart of enemy territory." I could tell he was taking my words into consideration, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Come on, even though I don't know you very well, I know you're not stupid. At least talk with the others about it." My voice held a pleading note. Why couldn't he see it my way?

"..Fine. I'll think about it." Jake didn't look very happy. Broodingly, he leaned back against the door, rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache. The silence stretched for an awkward amount of time. I couldn't help but think back to his words.. _There were screams.. human screams._ They bounced around in my brain until I felt like screaming myself. Or maybe hitting something.

"Feel like missing second period?" I asked glumly.

"What? Why?"

"I guess it just bugs me.. Screams? I want to find out what that's about,"

"Yeah.." His anger spent, Jake looked tired. and yet at the same time, I felt he was curious, too.

"So will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Skip second period?" He stared at me blankly for a second before comprehension dawned in his eyes. Was there a hint of reckless curiosity there as well?

"...Well, it'd be good to know what we're getting into..." Jake ventured.

"Mmhmm. And you've already gotten into the groove of Inspector Gadget." I pointed out, attempting to ease the tension the earlier quarrel had brought. To my relief, a smile cracked his lips.

"I thought I was Bond."

"Whatever floats your boat. So are you game?"

"Yeah. Besides," he added wickedly, "You need someone to unlock the door, anyways."

Hah! As if that justified it.

((A.N.-Yes, I'm a horrible, horrible author for not having updated in forever(it's been what, six months?) but here it is now, and I don't have a writer's block for the next chapter, so expect that one within a week.. Yes, a week! I swear it won't be six months again. For the next chapter, you're going to want to pay attention to an event in the sixth chapter(think zoo-hawk) to get where that comes in. I'll put that in an A.N. at the beginning since I haven't updated in a horribly long amount of time.. anyway! On to my much delayed response to your comments!

K.P.-..Sorry, I didn't take your advice about the updating. Oops. And glad you liked it! My character is a bit random when it comes to emotions, if you couldn't tell, but hey.. And pencil-hair things rock!

LilManiac- Cheetahs are fun, fun creatures.

D.H. L'Orange- Alright, I'll fix that little detail pertaining to the emergency room. And as for her escaping the cheetah's death grip, it's a little thing called acquiring trance mixed with semi-devine intervention from Sari's dubbed 'elf-god'. D And yes.. again, sorry for the time between updates..

Little Midgett- Oh, definitely. She's a fiery li'l sprite who really needs to learn some people skills so she can get along better with people. Either that or get some tact. So far, she's managed to piss off Marco, Rachel, and Jake.. and next in line is Tobias.. As for the Andalite, she'll be in the story.. Later. Much, much later. I will also have a plausible reason as to why she wasn't in the actual animorph's storyline book series and the likes. But she's a fun character right there.. I'll just have to keep updating!

UK HoneyB- I want to say that your detailed review is much, MUCH appreciated! Yup, Dr. E. Llimist is in the house. I'll definitely keep that in mind about shortening up the sentances. That'll make it just that much better. And Sari(not Cori, heehee) doesn't really have a reason for being 'chosen'. She's the Ellimist's last ditch-effort to save the even bigger game he's playing with the galaxy that requires Rachel to function. As for the swearing thing, you clearly haven't been around my school much. It's a favorite pass-time now among the idiots. Also, I agree. Cassie is smart enough to combine some random digits. As for the bald eagle thing.. You'll see. I'll try to incoorperate more of her normal life into it as well. It'll probably be easier in further chapters/stories, as the beginning is kind of cramped for them trying to figure out what the hecks going on.

Jen, Flames, Gretl, and Carol- Ty for taking the time to read my fics! I'm glad you're enjoying them!

Angel of Nevermore- They're fifteen in my story. Artistic liscence!

Whew, that ends the list. TY all for being so patient.. After I got over my severe mental impairment(writer's block) I had a lot of fun writing this chappie, so I hope you liked it. ))


	9. Progression

The Invasion Again  
Smitten x Kitten

Ch 9

(She's back! After forever.. anyway. I edited the other chapters in an attempt to make them slightly better. Trying to remember where I was going with this story. But it all works! Anyway, I'm back, and doin' it. Yay for that!)

We waited until after the bell rang for second period to start before doing it. Forcing Jake to curl up on the toilet seat was fun, seeing as he was kind of a big guy who lacked any kind of balance. I could poke him and watch him teeter around on the seat, all the while muttering curses under his breath as he tried valiantly not to fall onto the nasty bathroom floor or into the stained toilet bowl. The fun part was he couldn't say anything without giving it away to the flighty airheads that - gasp - there was a male in the _girls'_ bathroom! Hey, he deserved it after that whole spider thing! I glanced back at him as I gave him a nudge and his eyes narrowed with annoyance. He started to mouth something that looked like _Stop it!, _but I didn't really care and pretended not to notice. Stifling a giggle, I averted my eyes and waited it out, occasionally giving him a push and watching him grab the toilet for dear life.

Of course, it was all a cover up for my screaming nerves, but no one but me had to know that. I just had to shove the gnawing fear into the back of my head and ignore its malicious chewing in my gut. Ugh. Even as I silently taunted Jake with my playful jabs, I was quaking inwardly. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I hoped that Jake would topple off the seat and get us sent to the principal's office so we didn't have to do this stupid thing. Was I crazy or something? Just the two of us, going down there alone? Yeah. I was officially ready to check myself into a mental institution.

Miraculously, the passing period came and went without us getting caught, so we were good to go. As the last girl left the bathroom, I took a deep breath to steady myself. This was stupid... but, on the bright side, the others wouldn't be in danger. Just me and Jake. We could just go down, take a quick look, then run back out.

"Alright, I think the bathroom is clear so we can-" I froze mid-sentence and struggled to avoid screaming. The idiot didn't bother to tell me he was morphing! And jeez, it was disgusting. His skin was lifting off his face like giant boils, enormous blisters that were partially transparent. It looked like if I barely touched one, it'd burst and spew yellow, slimy pus all over my hand. The blisters were taking on a sickening green color and beginning to harden and move down his neck. I managed to glare at him while choking down my vomit. Couldn't he have morphed scales after he was small? Ugh. I'd definitely seen enough.

_Morphing is seriously gross_. I grabbed for the latch and stumbled into the sink. _Ow. _I glanced up and realized I could still see him morphing in the mirror! _Maybe I should be nicer to Jake next time, _I thought with disgust. Fine, no more toilet-tight-rope-walking for him!

"I hate you, Jake. I really, really hate you." I murmured as I chanced a glance at the lizard boy. He was blessfully smaller, but still gross. Shoving the stall door shut, I waited for him to finish his morph. I was seriously shaken. That was one of the grossest things I'd ever seen. I was lucky that I didn't wet myself or something! _Jerk_. Were we really going to do this? I mean, we'd already agreed it'd be a good idea to scope out what we were getting ourselves into, but even so… The one part of me was glad he was coming. The other part was screaming that I was putting Jake in danger by having him there. I didn't really care if I, personally, got myself killed, but Jake? Ugh. I shoved the treacherous thought back into the tiny recessives of my brain, where it was supposed to have been all along.

I was still visibly shaking when he decided to grace me with his lizard presence. I had a serious case of the jitters. C'mon, a girl can't be expected to deal with more than one creepy thing a day, right? I wasn't so sure if I still had the nerve to go down to the pit of screams or hell or whatever was down there. But Jake had already morphed a lizard and it'd be stupid to stop now... at least, that's what I told myself.

(Alright, let's go. Just follow me.) Jake said, sounding not at all pleased about heading back to the janitor's closet of doom. I nodded and I guess Jake saw it. Either that or he wanted to get it over with before he backed out of it, the same as me. The lizard-boy took off under the door, and I followed. How bizarre was this? I was ditching class and following a talking lizard, who'd been my friend Jake moments before, down the hall and into the janiter's closet where there was a threatening _door_ leaking screams and sounding like it was the portal to hell. Couldn't get any weirder, could it?

Anyway, I followed Mr. Bond to the janiter's closet.

(Just wait here. I'm going to go and demorph, then unlock the door for you.) Jake said as he scurried under it. I was just glad I didn't have to witness his morph this time. Ighhh, that was so gross! I glanced up and down the hallway, nervous that a hall monitor would find me and march me off to class. Man, this would have been so much simpler at my old school. We didn't have the idiot hall monitors to worry about.

A few minutes of nervous pacing later, Jake finally opened the door. My teeth were completely on edge because I could hear a pair of teachers talking just around the corner. I slammed past him and knocked loose a few brooms. Muttering a curse, I tried frantically to keep them from hitting the door Jake had just shut. No, I had no anxiety issues whatsoever, of course not!

"Sari? Are you okay?" Jake whispered with concern.

"Just peachy," I replied in a pissed 'what-are-you-an-idiot?' tone. I felt as though if I waited any longer, I'd just say forget it and leave. That couldn't happen. "So where's this door?"

Jake studied the wall for a minute with a contemplative look on his face. He reached for the sink, twisted the faucet to the left, then a hook to the right. The wall swung inwards.

"Oh, how terrifying," I said sarcastically, trying to hide the growing fear that was telling me to run in a yammering, screaming mess out of the cramped closet. But that's because I was about to face the worst fear of all: the unknown. "I'm so frightened! A hidden door in the janitor's closet wall. This isn't TOO weird-"

"Shhh! Listen." Jake said. I took his advice, shut up, and listened. The sounds drifting up from the pool were not so very comforting. There were definitely screams. Horrified, terrified screams. People crying out in despair, sobbing. I could hear a child calling for his or her mommy. Maniacal laughter assaulted me ears and I glanced at Jake. Our eyes met; we were both scared shitless.

"No way in hell I'm chickening out," I said like it was just some sort of stupid dare. Just a stupid dare, nothing more. False bravado. Right. "Come on, let's go see what we're up against, Mr. Bond!" Skipping down the stairs with a mock-jovial expression playing across my face, I prayed that he'd follow. I knew that I didn't want to go in there alone, that was for damned sure. After a few moments I heard his footsteps starting down after me, and I let out a sigh of relief. Of course, the sensation was short lived as a piercing female scream assaulted my ears. Despite my concern that I'd get Jake killed, I didn't want to go down there alone. We started walking down the steps, side by side. They were really steep, and uber long. The walls were dirt at first, but soon we were seeing layers of rock, granite, sandstone, all that jazz.

"How much further do you think?" I asked nervously.

"How should I know?" Jake snapped back. "Like I've been down here before!" Guess I wasn't the only one who was edgy. The rock walls suddenly widened revealing a huge, and I mean GINORMOUS, cavern. I've never seen anything so huge. Hell, it was bigger than the super Walmart my dad had found and was so happy about. They probably could have built about eight of them and still have room for a couple of super bowl games. That's including the screaming fans, too. It was absolutely nuts! Except these screams weren't of the happy fans of the Super Bowl. They were of terror and desperation.

I surveyed the room and didn't see any devices of torture. No Iron Maidens or Judas' Cradles or head vices. I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding and sent silent thanks to the Elf-God. At least the Yeerks realized that total and complete slavery was cruel enough. Either that or... an unwelcome thought tickled my brain. _Either that, or they don't want to damage their... hosts._

While the devices of torture were mercifully absent, there were cages... lots of cages with people jammed into them, and a few stronger ones where Hork-Bajir paced and howled. So that's where the inhuman screams were coming from, and also from the people being forced down the docks in the middle of the sludgy lake... The Yeerk Pool. Just as Tobias had said. I watched, horrified, as a Hork-Bajir dragged a child who couldn't have been any older than four down one of the narrow pier. He forced her blonde ringlets under that nasty sludge with his clawed hand. She tried to beat against him; she was struggling so valiantly! And then slowly, she stopped struggling. Her limbs slackened and the alien beside her helped her to her feet. Then the little girl laughed. She_ laughed_!

I felt sick. This place was so massive, crawling with vermin and aliens of types I couldn't even begin to guess at… How could we possibly destroy something like this? We were only six kids! Six kids against a city teeming with aliens?? Not even if hell froze over could we win.

"We are so screwed." I whispered. Jake simply stared with the same look of horror that must have been written on my face. It was hard to take in.

"It's just like Tobias said," Jake commented.

"And that doesn't make you suspicious... why?" I asked skeptically. I didn't trust Tobias. "_I saw visions, the alien gave them to me_!" I mimicked in a high squeaky voice. "In my humble opinion, that's a damned weak excuse."

"I don't..." Jake looked around again. I could almost hear the gears grinding in his brain. "I guess you could be right. It'd be a lot easier to get us here, wouldn't it?" He admitted grudgingly. I felt first triumphant, and then a little sick. What if I was wrong about Tobias? There were just too many suspicious things he'd said, but even so...

Well, hey. I'd already managed to piss off both Rachel and Marco, why not add a third to the list? _Besides, he'll understand. Right? It's for the safety of the group..._ At least, that's what I told myself. I wasn't so sure he'd be understanding. I knew that I wouldn't be.

Hesitantly, I took the last few remaining steps to the earth floor below. Jake grabbed for my arm, but I shrugged out of it and glared at him. I just wanted a closer look, that's all. Besides, I didn't see anyone near here...

"Sari!" Jake hissed at me. "We've seen enough, let's go!"

((A.N.--and this is where my writer's block took over! If anyone has any ideas as to where I should take this, please let me know. Because I'm really quite stuck for where I am right now. Dang it!))


	10. The Yeerk Pool

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten

Chapter 10: The Yeerk Pool

So, there we were, Jake and I, in the heart of enemy territory. Now, any rational person would have taken Jake's advice. Any sane person would have run yammering back up those stairs with no intention of ever returning. Any person with any sense would probably not have come down here in the first place.

Logic decided to take a coffee break.

I knew I was being stupid. I knew that this probably wasn't the smartest thing I would ever do. But I wasn't missing class and risking a dean's call to my dad for nothing, gosh darn it, and I was determined to go through with.. well, whatever crack pot idea I could come up with.

Ignoring Jake to the best of my ability, I scanned the cave for anything of interest. The pool itself was disgusting and the cages made me ill, but other than that, there wasn't much to decorate the area. Though the space was immense, it appeared it was still relatively new. At the far wall were some discarded earth mover's, but closer to us were a few portable sheds.

Ohh. Sheds.

Sheds can hold fun things.

My gaze met Jake's slyly as I started creeping towards the nearest one. Anger touched his eyes and he grabbed my wrist.  
"What are you, crazy?" He pulled hard on my arm, but I broke free.

"Aren't you?" I challenged. I glanced uneasily across the cave, wondering how long we'd have until a watchful controller noticed our misplaced presence. Even I couldn't believe my nerve or my gall, but I wanted to feel like I accomplished something while I was down here.

"We came here to see what we were up against. We saw, we leave. _Now_." He said firmly, though the fear that quivered in the last note of his voice filled me with resentment.

"We leave and I'll bet your sorry ass we won't have the nerve to make it down here again," I muttered. I didn't want to admit it, but I was glad Jake was there to save me from my own stupidity. The fact that I actually _wanted_ to explore further almost frightened me more than this hell itself. Almost.

"We can figure that out later!" He snapped. "Now let's _go _befo-"

Instinct took over. I slapped my hand over Jake's mouth, prickly apprehension washing over me.

"Shut up! Listen!" I said in a hissed whisper, my skin raised in goose bumps with fear.

Muffled footfalls greeted my ears and echoed voices bounced down the stairs. Wide eyed, Jake and I scrambled across the distance to the nearest shed, cursing our luck. Our escape route was temporarily cut off. As the voices approached, I fumbled for a door, any opening into the shed, because while shadows could conceal us from distant eyes, we were meat to closer ones. My hands were shaking. Stupid stupid STUPID. What the hell were we thinking?!

A latch! I'd found a latch! My fingers felt arthritic as I tried to pry it open. But it wouldn't budge.

"I can't get it open! Jake, I can't get the damned latch open!" I whispered urgently as the voices sounded, closer and closer. He shouldered me out of the way, harder than he'd probably meant to in his fear, and lifted the blasted, bloody latch. We tumbled into the cramped space, knocking over files and heavy boxes as we went. I grasped the edge of the door frantically, and would have slammed it had my fingers not been in the way. The sharp metal bit into my fingers, adding yet another blemish to my healing hands. I bit my lip, whimpering softly in pain, using my body weight to close the door the rest of the way.

Never in my life have I regretted getting out of bed more than right then.

Jake and I held our breaths. We were in a shed surrounded by several stacks of papers and random boxes. A few had knocked over upon our panicked arrival and were filled with strange, sci-fi-esque outfit-ish things. Maybe something for a Hork Bajir to wear? I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. I'd been hoping for guns--big guns. Especially now with the enemy quickly approaching.

The sounds of two people talking drifted through the thin sheet metal, a man and a woman. I pressed my ear against the door, still cradling my throbbing fingers. I knew that if they decided to waltz over and open the door, we'd both be dead... or worse.

"... Visser...an..lites survived," the man said, his words growing clearer as he approached. The woman gave a very feminine snort, scoffing at the idea.

"Well I don't believe it," her voice resonated shrilly. They seemed to be right outside the shed, but who could tell? My heart was in my throat. "I watched the bridge burn. We made a game of frying the jettisoned escape vessels." Her laugh shot a bolt of anger directly into my soul. They were discussing murder... and joking about it.

It was disgusting. Despite the fact that I was cowering not five feet from where they probably stood, hoping to God they didn't have any business in this shed, I wanted to tear the woman's head open and rip that slug right from her brain. When I thought about Elfangor.. and all the valiant warriors who must have died with him.. a red haze blurred my vision. One look at Jake's face and I knew he felt the same.

"You're probably right. It must have been something, frying those Andalite scum. Whew, wish I coulda seen it!" His laughter joined hers in a twisted serenade. A few moments later, they sobered.

"All this added security is a pain my ass. The Visser has nothing to worry about. At least he'll be out of our hair for a few days or so after to...," her voice trailed off, leaving Jake and I alone with the screams of enslaved people ringing in our ears.

Slowly, we climbed to our feet, taking great care not to make an even bigger mess of things. As I glanced around, amazed I was still in one piece and with no slug in my brain, I glanced down at a piece of paper I had crushed. The logo looked familiar somehow.. it was a real-estate company of some sort.

But neither Jake nor I intended to hang out any longer than we needed to. I, for one, had enjoyed my fill of sci-fi for one lifetime. I lifted the latch to the door, which was much easier now that it wasn't absolutely essential it be opened, and glanced cautiously out the door. Noone near us.

Leaving the terrified screams of enslaved behind, we hauled ass out of that nightmarish hell.

---

((A.N.--Sooo Fiery has a new job! One that allows her to.. gasp... write! Yay. Except now I'm stuck. Again. So do they go back down to the yeerk pool, or not? Sadly, my skill has decreased terribly. Sigh. I'm working on it, though. Expect lots more updates. W00t for being back!

Reviews would be appreciated. Especially since I'm struggling so hard with this. \))


	11. Why I'm Here

Chapter 11: The Reason I'm Here  
Smitten x Kitten 

Running up that many stairs, in a normal situation, would feel like it lasted hours. Running up those stairs, wondering if the enemy was going to run smack dab into us on our way out, lasted an eternity. Inside the pit, outside in the world, they could be anywhere.

What had started as a daring dungeon "game" had shattered into an unbelievably painful reality. My thighs were burning and I had a stitch in my side, but, for the first time in my not-quite-so-athletic life, I refused to stop. After what seemed like centuries, there it was, the blessed door rimmed in golden light at the end of the tunnel.

I have never, ever been so happy to find myself in a smelly, dirty old janitor's closet as I was right then. In my haste to shut that damned wall, to shut out the despairing cries, the horrific memories of the hell we'd just seen, my foot splashed into a mop bucket half full of dirty, brown water. The voices, those wailing, screaming, crying voices were muffled now, but I could still hear them. I was afraid I would probably always hear them, no matter how much distance I put between myself and that pit.

Panting hard, we staggered out into the deserted hallway and stumbled down the corridors, my shoe slapping the floor wetly the entire way. If I never went close to that closet again, it would be too soon.

We finally collapsed against a row of lockers located on the opposite end of the building, terrified and trembling. The pounding in my ears was the hammering beat of my heart, which seemed bent on escaping my ribcage. Time began to slow, nearly reaching a standstill as the adrenaline in my system began to ebb. Among my fear, my despair, and utter horror we'd just witnessed were the sounds of a noisy classroom to our left. The faint sound of a phone's ringing in a nearby office buzzed through my head. Despite the cavern of despair only yards beneath our feet, to my utter disbelief, life was going on quite normally for everyone else. No one had even the faintest inkling that there was a torture pit directly under us.

That was not the most happy of thoughts.

I glanced at Jake's pale face and the tiny drops of sweat glistening at the tips of his hair. His dilated pupils met mine, but neither of us said a word. We both knew that our actions had been stupid, bordering on suicide, but we'd come out okay.

Well, sort of.

After a few moments of strained silence between us, Jake spoke.

"...I don't think we should say anything to the others," his voice rang with guilt. Moronic couldn't even begin to describe our actions.

"Especially Tobias," I said glumly, though the fight was out of me. As suspicious as I was, I didn't want Tobias to be one of them. Especially not after what we'd seen. Jake gave a curt nod, then stared at the ground, lost in thought. The classroom to our left burst out in a fit of laughter, which automatically led me to feel worse.

I'm not sure how long we sat there in silent shame before we realized the period was almost over. Students began milling out of their classrooms, and then the bell rang, producing a rush of joking, smiling kids.

In a state of utter numbness, I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Jake asked glumly, clearly intent on sulking the day away in a fetal position. That, however, wasn't for me.

"To third period. We can't just sit here," I shrugged. He looked stunned for a moment, then, as if the clouds had parted, pushed himself up from the floor and then melted into the crowd.

Let me tell you, paying attention in class is hard enough without adding aliens and enslavement to the list of problems to worry about. Third period was Algebra, not my best subject. Even worse were the faint screams buzzing around in my head. I would have sworn I could hear them through the floor. Almost as bad, a shroud of foreboding had fallen over the day. Something was bothering me, nagging at me, but whatever. It was beyond me.

Naturally, I didn't have any of my stuff, but lucky for me, Marco was in the class, and apparently he'd gotten over the unknown faux pas of what I'd said over the weekend. He grinned broadly at me and wiggled his eyebrows from behind our teacher while she sternly reprimanded me for not being prepared. Normally, I probably would've laughed, but all I could do was stonily stair at the teacher as she made an example out of me._So much for going easy on new kids_. During the work portion of the class, Marco gave me a sheet of paper and let me share his book(which was full of cartoon drawings), all the while cracking bad jokes. I pretended to laugh, pretended like I was fine, but I could tell he thought something was up.

Lunch wasn't any better. I sat with Rachel and Cassie, quietly picking at my food and totally forgotten. Something about what we'd seen was bothering me, and I just couldn't place it. What was it? Other than the fact that pretty much everything down there was, you know, out of the ordinary... I glanced across the room. Jake, Marco, and Tobias were sitting together. Marco and Tobias looked like they were trying to force conversation, because Jake was sullenly crouched over his meal. Every now and then he'd glance at Tobias, stare for a moment, then swiftly look back at his food. Guilt washed over me.. part of me hoped I was right. Most of me hoped I was wrong. If I was right about him, which I was almost sure I was, we were all in serious, immediate, mortal danger. If I was wrong.. Tobias would likely hate me forever. Either way, I was between a rock and a hard place.

I turned back to the girls at my table, determined to block out the nagging voice in my head that kept my thoughts in the dark Yeerk pool.

"..so you see, Cassie, you're actually saving money!" Rachel said brightly. Cassie stared at her blankly.

"I'm still not sure how you're saving money by spending it," she said slowly, giving Rachel the fish eye. The blonde threw up her hands, sighing in exasperation.

"Okay, say something cost forty dollars, and then there's a twenty-five percent off sale. Then it only costs thirty, and you have ten dollars you wouldn't have had!" Rachel stated, then stabbed a piece of mystery meat as if that ended it, all questions answered. Cassie stared at her, her large brown eyes glittering with humor.

"Or I could just not BUY a sweater in the first place and keep my forty-"

"You just don't get it!" Rachel declared huffily, but she was grinning all the same. "Sales save you money, period the end!"

"Or they just persuade you to buy things you don't need," I spoke up, winking at Cassie, forcing a jovial attitude I didn't feel. Rachel's eyes narrowed in mock-anger. "I mean, there was a place in my hometown that pretended like their original clothes cost like two hundred dollars, but was perpetually having a seventy-five percent off sale. So people would spend twenty to thirty dollars on a plain, rotten tee shirt because they were saving oh so much money!"

Cassie looked smug, but Rachel just shrugged.

"It was probably an outlet," she said airily, waving her hand as if she was shooing away the very idea. Cassie chucked her napkin at her, which hit her square in the forehead and we all broke out laughing.

I felt a good deal better than I had earlier and finally brought a spoonful of lumpy mashed potatoes to my mouth, instead of playing with it. I was working on getting the cold mush down my throat when it hit me. I started to choke, managing to noisily gag it down. Rachel and Cassie were looking at me with concern, but I paid them no mind. That mark, on the boxes in the storage shed. I knew what it was.

I shoved away from the table and half ran, half stumbled across the cafeteria. I got some weird looks, but I was past the point of caring. Fear prickled in my stomach, making me queasy. I plopped down in the empty seat next to Jake, and grabbed his shoulder so he was forced to look me in the eye.

"The mark! On the boxes! Did you see it? The mark?"

"What?" He stared at me blankly. Marco was looking at me like I was nuts, while Tobias just looked puzzled.

"The boxes, Jake! They had a mark, a logo, on them! Do you remember?" Gripping his shoulder, I shook him a little, feeling a dread growing deeper in me. Comprehension dawned, and he shrugged, then looked back down at his food.

"Well, I guess there could have been-"

"There was! It was my Dad's company's mark, Jake. My _dad_. It was on some of the letters he got in the mail, he was just offered this job, that's why we moved here!" I was breathless. It was difficult just trying to get enough oxygen into my lungs. Understanding began to dawn in his eyes.

"Hey, hold on a minute, just what-" Marco began to say, annoyed that we seemed to know more about what was going than he did.

"That was his company's mark? Are you sure?" Jake interrupted. He'd gone pale again. I glanced down, half expecting to see all his color in a liquid puddle at his feet.

"Yes, Jake, I'm sure."

Jake was silent for a moment, glanced at Tobias, then quickly looked away.

"We'll figure this out later," he muttered, looking uncomfortable.

"But Jake-"

"This isn't the place!" he hissed. I was taken aback by his harshness. It was the last thing I'd expected of him, Jake who seemed so cool and collected always. I could tell Marco and Tobias were looking at him oddly too.

"Fine." I said stiffly, mostly to avoid any questions I couldn't even answer in the school cafeteria, then walked away.

I didn't know what was up, or what the logo meant to the Yeerks, but I did know that I had to find out. I had to find out..

As I walked back to Cassie and Rachel's table, who were currently looking questioningly at me, a terrifying thought welled up inside of me.

_I had to know, but... we'd have to return to the Yeerk Pool..._


	12. Would you like a cookie?

The Invasion: Again?  
Smitten x Kitten

Chapter 12: Would you like a cookie?

It was late afternoon, and we were all gathered at the barn. Well, sort of. Tobias was, much to my relieved dismay, absent, but unfortunately, so was Cassie. We'd all decided to take a different route in case we were being followed. I thought we were slightly on the paranoid side, but then again, I was the one responsible for Tobias' not being there. If anyone was being overly cautious, it was me, and boy, did I feel awesome about it.

But, just like I knew would happen, someone was late. Of course. With something this bloody important, Cassie just had to be late. I paced around the barn, glaring angrily at the nervous animals, as if it were somehow their fault their caretaker wasn't there on time. I paused for a second, thinking. It seemed a little odd... Wouldn't she have arrived earlier than the rest of us to take care of them?

Whatever. It didn't change the fact that she still wasn't there.

Marco was lounging on a slightly dirty bale of hay, every now and then chucking a particularly nasty piece at Rachel who, in turn, would threaten him with a pitchfork. Nobody's heart was in the banter, though, which was probably the only reason Marco hadn't already ended up as a human manure-kabob. Jake stood at the entrance, squinting out into the dying light as if hoping Cassie would magically appear in the twilight.

As the sun began to set, Jake looked at his watch one last time, then sighed.

"Well, I don't know what's keeping Cassie, but I guess this can't really wait," He said sullenly. Rachel raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow at him.

"What about Tobias?" She asked suspiciously. At the color that flushed his cheeks, her expression turned into a scowl. Even the prettiest of people generally look ugly while frowning, but Rachel simply looked fierce. Beautifully, utterly fierce. "What about Tobias, Jake?" She repeated, her voice flat and clearly threatening. Jake shot a stubborn glance at me. He was making _me_ explain.

"...Tobias isn't coming," I said slowly, shrinking as Rachel glowered at me. I have never seen a set of blue eyes blaze that hotly at someone. I shrank against a cage, suddenly feeling cornered. "Don't you think it's a bit odd that he knew so much more about the Yeerks than us? '_Oh, the Andalite told me when I stayed behind_'', right, real great story," I rushed on before Rachel, who was looking impossibly pissier by the minute, could interrupt. "I stayed behind too, I didn't get any 'visions'. I know he could have gotten us at the Sharing, but don't you think it'd be way more easier at the Yeerk pool? Their base? Come on," I finished, a note of pleading in my voice. "It makes sense."

Rachel opened her mouth to retort, then shut it. I could almost see the wheels squeaking as they turned inside her pretty head. She looked like she wanted to hit me, but it seemed she understood my logic. I held my breath, praying she wouldn't knock out a few of my teeth. She'd probably drill holes in them, paint them, and wear them as a necklace, as angry as she looked.

"I have a theory," Marco's voice broke the thick tension. He had a piece of straw in his mouth and didn't seem at all disturbed by what I'd just revealed. He pushed himself up on his elbows, smiling pleasantly at the three of us. "While Sari has brought up some strikingly paranoid thoughts, I'm inclined to disagree," He continued. "It is a little weird that he knows waaaay more about this than any of us do, but when did our worlds make sense?"

I was getting agitated. I really wished he'd get to the point, because so far I'd heard nothing that would dissuade me from my theory.

"That still doesn't explain-"

"I'm not finished," He stretched languidly like a smug little cat, then said "Five little kids, hiding behind a wall. One jumped up and screamed '_Hey, there're a bunch of kids over here who know all about us!_' and the world's most dazzling game of laser tag erupts! Except, oh wait, that didn't happen. Because Tobias isn't a Yeerk."

...Oh. Right. The construction site. How did I overlook that?

Both Jake and Rachel had turned their annoyed glances at me, like I was the biggest moron in the world. It was quite possible that I was.

In all my paranoia, the one thought that would have cleared Tobias' name had totally escaped me. He could have easily, EASILY given away the stupid, cowering youths behind the wall that horrible night. It would have all been over.

"But people could have seen the flashes or.. or something," I said lamely. People _had_ seen flashes however, and they'd called it fireworks. Rachel sneered disgusted, at me, and Jake looked plain pissed off, though whether that was at me, or at himself for believing me I didn't know.

"Hey, paranoid is good!" Marco stated with conviction. "I, for one, would rather be suspicious than dead."

I was a little shocked. I would never have expected him, of all people, to defend me. That seemed to appease Jake, but Rachel's expression looked like it'd been carved in granite. I didn't blame her. I felt like beating me too.

The entire time it'd be blatantly obvious.. what was wrong with me? What the hell was my problem? Had I just been, in some unconscious part of my mind, wanting to stir up drama or something? As if this entire new reality wasn't freaking enough?

I'd never felt like the dramatic type. In fact, I tended to avoid it, but my lack of tact and habit of preaching my rather controversial views to people who were dead set against them, well.. it caused more problems than needed.

Yet again, my lack of tact, my lack of _intelligence_, had screwed me over. I had an uncanny knack for that. Ugh. Maybe I should have just talked to the group before I decided to try and convince Jake to exclude him from our meeting. But we really hadn't had the chance.. right? I tried to rationalize it, make it better, so I wouldn't feel so guilty.

Yeah, um, note to self: that doesn't work so well.

"..so sorry I'm late! I just couldn't leave this little guy.." Cassie suddenly stumbled into the barn, cheeks flaming and out of breath. In her arms was what looked to be a half-grown rabbit resting passively in her arms. We all jumped, taken by surprise. Maybe it would have been good to have a lookout, in case it had been anyone else.. Her big brown eyes scanned all of our faces, then turned puzzled as she shifted the presumably injured rabbit. "Where's Tobias?"

"I'm a bloody freaking moron, that's where Tobias is," I muttered under my breath. I sank onto the dirty floor, feeling like a complete jackass.

"Well, Sari decided that Tobias was a Yeerk, and then brainwashed Jake into not inviting him to our little get together," Rachel said acidly. Cassie almost dropped the rabbit.

"_What_?!" Cassie's look of concern made me feel worse than the rage of the others. "Do you know what that boy goes through on a daily basis? And to be excluded from this?" She bit her lip worriedly. Pity was in her eyes, not for me, but for Tobias.

"It-" _wasn't like that_, is what I was going to say. Except, oh wait. Yes, yes it was, just like Rachel said. I looked at the ground. This day just couldn't get any better. "Can we please just get this over with? I promise I'll apologize to Tobias, and it's really important!"

"No, we can't just get this over wi-" Rachel started to advance on me, but I interrupted her.

"_They're after my dad, all right_?" I shrieked. They all stared at me. Immediately, I wanted to melt through the cracks in the floor. Today was just amazingly fantastic! Cassie's rabbit began to squirm and without saying a word, she bent to place it in one of the lower cages. I cleared my throat, and spoke with slightly more dignity. "They're after my dad..."

I took a deep breath. I could not remember the last time I'd felt this mortified. Wait, yes I did, it was right after I'd jumped into a Cheetah pen, and all over some lousy cotton candy. Huh. That wasn't so long ago..

This had to be about a thousand times worse. Not only had I proven myself to be the biggest moron since the general publics reelection of Bush, but now I was about to explain that Jake and I had, on a stupid little whim, decided to visit the Yeerk pool. Without them.

What a sunny little picnic!

"There was a logo, on a box.. " I wouldn't say anymore. "I am one hundred percent certain it's Yeerk related, and.. well, we moved out here because my dad was pretty much guaranteed this job. He wasn't doing so well with his old boss, so this was pretty much a

Godsend..." I trailed off, avoiding the others' eyes, and wondering if the elf-God had anything to do with this. _Bastard probably did_.

"Why would the Yeerks be interested in him?" Marco asked, though I could see his shrew eyes looking me over with suspicion. He knew something was up.. stupid snooping shrew. Despite the fact that he'd slightly smoothed over the fact that I was retarded earlier, I was suddenly less happier with him.

"I'm not sure. He's just a property appraiser. He finds out how much a patch of land is worth, identifies any hazards that need to be dealt with.. that's about it. I don't know what they want with him... but I have to find out." I looked directly at Jake. "Whether you're all coming or not.

"How do you know it's even Yeerk related? It was just some box," Marco challenged, the jovial attitude that was, only minutes, ago like a breath of fresh air completely gone. I sighed, feeling my stomach turn cold and leaden.

Well, this was it: moment of truth.

"Oh, just a hunch, but probably because it was in a shed in the Yeerk pool cave," I muttered at the ground. There was a moment of stunned silence that seemed to stretch on for eternity. Then Marco exploded.

"_Are you __INSANE_?!"

[[A Note of Explanation: The reason Cassie was not taken by the police officer was because, in this story line, she was not caught by that same Policeman who showed up at her farm, so his suspicions died shortly after his visit to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic. I always thought it was strange that, despite the fact he recognized her enough to track her down, she was never pursued after she escaped. To lead the story in the direction I wanted it to go without that huge distraction, I left it out. Also, considering the kids still don't know much about Yeerk society or whatnot, they're not going to take into account the drive to get ahead in the Yeerk empire. Just an explanation of my thoughts. D

I went back and fixed some typos in Chapter 11.. though I proofread, I tend to miss some. ;;I'll do the same for this one when I manage to find them.

Also, thank you so much for reviewing, Anthiena and Dreamer-MRAF--you got me updating this again. I think there's an end in sight.. at least.. for this first book. Mwahahaha! No more writer's block for miss Fiery!


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